The Tampa Bay Lightning are clicking at the right time with just a few weeks before the start of the playoffs and having an extraordinary 9-1-1 record in March. That, however, doesn’t mean they aren’t navigating a few internal issues keeping their vibes from being immaculate.
Right before the puck dropped on Saturday, March 30, for the game between the Lightning and fellow Eastern Conference wild-card hopefuls New York Islanders, the franchise announced that defenseman Erik Cernak would “not play after missing a team meeting,” per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman and other beat reporters (Chris Krenn and Eduardo Encina among them) informed by the Lightning.
TB announced that Erik Cernak will not play vs NYI after missing a team meeting
Eduardo Encina, who covers the Lighting for the Tampa Bay Times, revealed earlier on Saturday that Cernak had missed the team’s morning skate ahead of the matchup against the Isles.
According to Colton Davies of Daily Faceoff, missing a team meeting is “a violation of the team’s code of conduct.”
Cernak had missed about a month of play from mid-January to early December, but that absence was related to an upper-body injury he suffered in early January 2024. After that and before March, he only missed one more game on February 22 with an illness.
Through 73 games played by the Lightning this season, Cernak has appeared in 60 of them scoring 1 goal and 10 assists. Cernak is widely known for his stay-home style of defensive play, however, so those numbers are not out of the ordinary and align with his track record in the league.
Erik Cernak Has Won 2 Stanley Cups With Tampa Bay
The 26-year-old defenseman is one of the best players in the Lightning blue line and that’s been the case for a few years now. Cernak was part of the teams that won the Stanley Cup in back-to-back seasons. He was a pivotal player for both the 2020 and 2021 postseason runs appearing in 46 games through both runs combined.
Cernak ranks second in both blocked shots (94) and hits (158) among Lightning players this season. He’s also averaging 19:20 minutes per game, ranking fourth among defensemen in the club. That said, Cernak is a key contributor in short-handed action with the largest average TOI (2:50) in those situations, per Quant Hockey.
We’ve signed Mikhail Sergachev, Anthony Cirelli, and Erik Cernak each to an eight-year contract extension.
The defender signed a massive eight-year, $41.6 million contract in July 2022 with Tampa Bay. That alone speaks volumes of his stature in the club and how the organization sees and values him given the long-term commitment.
Cernak’s deal also includes a no-trade clause, per Cap Friendly, valid through the duration of his contract, which started this season and runs until the end of the 2031 season.
Tampa Bay Is a Lock to Make the Playoffs
Tampa Bay didn’t need Cernak on Saturday judging by the result the team earned against the Islanders. The Lightning dealt with New York easily handing them a 4-1 defeat that dropped the Isles to the No. 10 seed in the Eastern Conference and outside of the second wild-card place by five points.
The Lightning, on the other hand, solidified their position as a candidate to make the playoffs whether that’s by finishing atop the wild-card race standings or by finishing third in the Atlantic Division.
Tampa Bay (41-25-7, 89 points) trails the Toronto Maple Leafs (42-22-9, 93 points) by four points in the Atlantic through 73 games played. The Lightning, however, lead the wild card race by seven points over second-best Philadelphia (82 points in 75 games) followed by Detroit (80 points in 74 games).
Entering Easter Sunday, MoneyPuck gives Tampa Bay a 99.99% probability of making the playoffs with nine games left in their schedule.
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Lightning Scratch Franchise Cornerstone After Missing Meeting