Lightning anticipate return of two key defensemen Wednesday night

Tampa Bay Lightning beat writer Chris Krenn is reporting that Lightning defensemen Mikhail Sergachev and Erik Cernak will dress Wednesday night when the team takes on the New York Rangers. Both players have been out for extended periods of time as the Lightning have dealt with injuries to key contributors throughout the first half of the season.

Cernak has been out since Jan. 11 with an upper-body injury and has missed seven games. He was knocked out of action after taking a hit from New Jersey Devils’ forward Nathan Bastian in what was the third instance of Cernak being knocked out of action due to a hit in less than a year. Cernak was also injured after a Josh Anderson hit knocked him out of action for three games back on Dec. 31. Most famously, Cernak was hit in last year’s NHL playoffs by then Toronto Maple Leafs forward Michael Bunting, the hit knocked Cernak out of the playoffs and earned Bunting a three-game suspension.

This year Cernak has five assists in 39 games and is averaging just over 19 minutes a game in ice-time.

Sergachev has been out of the Lightning lineup since Dec. 21, a period of 17 games. The 25-year-old has been activated off the long-term injured reserve and will dress Wednesday night. The former ninth overall pick in 2016 has two goals and 17 assists in 33 games this year while he has averaged almost 23 minutes of ice time per game. He was struggling before his injury after posting career-best numbers last year.

There is a possibility that Tampa Bay will elect to pair Sergachev and Cernak together on the Lightning’s second defensive pairing as the duo have practiced together in recent days.