Star forward Brayden Point out of lineup as Tampa Bay Lightning win Game 3 of Stanley Cup Final
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 of the first round against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Tampa Bay filled the vacant roster spot on Monday with forward Riley Nash, who played on the fourth line as the Lightning trimmed the series deficit to 2-1.
Point posted 16:40 of ice time with one shot on goal in Game 2. He didn’t have a shot over 17:59 in Game 1 but registered an assist. He skated with Ross Colton and Nicholas Paul as well as with Anthony Cirelli and Nikita Kucherov in Game 2, when Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper scrambled his lines in the 7-0 loss.
Point has five points in nine games this postseason, 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 had given the Lightning problems before Monday, but the back-to-back Stanley Cup champions put to rest their recent trend of bad starts that saw them trail by multiple goals in the first period of both previous Final games. Tampa Bay scored two goals in the first period on Monday and four in the second.
“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 before Game 3. “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. He was replaced by veteran winger Nicolas Aube-Kubel.