TAMPA, Fla. — Tampa Bay Lightning forward Pat Maroon said after Game 6, “when the injury report comes out, you’ll be shocked.” On Tuesday, during team exit interviews, we learned just how banged up the Bolts really were during this Stanley Cup Playoff run.
“As for our team, the organization, the pain is deep,” general manager Julien BriseBois said.
The pain of losing a championship and there is a significant sacrifice from coming within two wins of a third straight Stanley Cup title.
“This isn’t an excuse, I’m sure Colorado has a long list of banged-up players, too,” BriseBois added.
The Lightning’s list includes:
- Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - Meniscus injury entering the postseason
- Anthony Cirelli - AC joint sprain and a dislocated shoulder
- Brandon Hagel - Foot fracture
- Nikita Kucherov - MCL sprain
- Corey Perry - AC joint sprain
- Brayden Point - “Significant” quad tear
- Ryan McDonagh - Mangled finger
“It just shows how bad guys want to win on this team,” forward Nick Paul said. “They’re all banged up, a couple of surgeries going on. They’re playing through that. When someone is strapping it up, giving it all they can, definitely build off that.”
Captain Steven Stamkos reflected on this team’s run over the last three seasons, which included 71 playoff games and back-to-back Stanley Cup titles.
“When you win, you feel great. Right?” Stamkos said. “You don’t care how hard it was. When you get to the Final and you lose, mentally, you feel the grind more. It’s almost harder to wrap your head around when you know the feeling of winning. You know what Colorado is doing right now and what’s coming in the next couple of weeks. It’s almost better to not know that feeling because you don’t know what you’re missing, right?”
The Lightning has another short off-season, but BriseBois will be busy trying to keep three free agents in Tampa Bay: Paul, Ondrej Palat, and Jan Rutta.
