TAMPA. Fla. — Tampa Bay Lightning center Brayden Point is out of the lineup for Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final Monday night.
Point did not take part in the team’s morning skate. He returned to the Lightning lineup in Game 1 against the Colorado Avalanche after missing the previous two rounds, having suffered a lower-body injury on May 14 in Game 7 against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Tampa Bay filled the vacant roster spot Monday with forward Riley Nash, who will play on the fourth line with the Lightning trailing, 2-0, in the series.
Point skated 16:40 with one shot on goal in Game 2. He didn’t have a shot in Game 1 in 17:59 of ice time but registered an assist. He skated both with Ross Colton and Nick Paul as well as with Anthony Cirelli and Nikita Kucherov in Game 2 when Cooper scrambled his lines in the 7-0 loss.
Point has five points in nine games in the playoffs, skating to a minus-7. No player has scored more goals (30) than Point has over the past three NHL postseasons.
The Avalanche’s speed and offensive tempo have given the Lightning problems, but the back-to-back Stanley Cup champions haven’t done themselves any favors with a pair of bad starts that saw them trail by multiple goals in the first period of both games.
“You have to give them credit. They really jump out of the gate quick. Just simplify our game and please don’t take a penalty in the first five minutes of the game,” Cooper said. “It would be nice to make these guys chase the game for once instead of us.”
Colorado also had to shuffle its lineup up front, with injured forward Andre Burakovsky missing Game 3, as well. He was replaced by veteran winger Nicolas Aube-Kubel.