The Tampa Bay Lightning took to the ice with no reason to win Saturday with second place in the Atlantic locked up, but the team may have suffered a significant loss in the first period against the Montreal Canadiens.
Already sitting five regulars due to injury, forward Tyler Johnson was helped off the ice after being cross-checked into the boards by defenseman Greg Pateryn. Johnson looked to be in considerable pain as he was helped off the ice.
The Lightning later announced he suffered an upper-body injury and would not return to the game.
Pateryn received a five-minute major for boarding and a game misconduct for the hit.
Injuries have limited Johnson to just 69 games this season, where he recorded just 14 goals and 24 assists after a breakout 72-point campaign a year ago.
The Lightning were playing without Steven Stamkos, Anton Stralman, Victor Hedman, Nikita Kucherov, and Ryan Callahan for Saturday's game.
