Tampa Bay Lightning center Brayden Point was ruled out for Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final against the visiting Colorado Avalanche on Monday.
Coach Jon Cooper said earlier in the day that Point was a game-time decision, but Point did not join his teammates on the ice for pre-game warmups and was scratched.
Cooper noted that star goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy will start Monday night’s game despite missing the morning skate for rest purposes.
Point has one assist in two games in this series for the Lightning, who trail 2-0 in the best-of-seven series.
The 26-year-old had just returned to action after missing 10 games with a lower-body injury sustained in Game 7 of Tampa Bay’s first-round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Point recorded 58 points (28 goals, 30 assists) in 66 games during the regular season. In nine playoff games, he has two goals and three assists.
Colorado was without forwards Andre Burakovsky and Nazem Kadri for Game 3. Coach Jared Bednar told reporters at the Avalanche’s morning skate that both players were considered day-to-day. Nicolas Aube-Kubel drew back into the lineup with Burakovsky out.
Burakovsky did not travel with the Avalanche to Tampa on Sunday after sustaining an apparent hand injury in the second period of the team’s 7-0 romp in Game 2.
He scored in overtime to give Colorado a 4-3 win in the series opener last Wednesday. The 27-year-old Austrian collected a goal and an assist on Saturday before taking a shot off his hand from Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman.
Burakovsky has recorded eight points (three goals, five assists) in 12 games during the postseason. He registered a career-high 61 points (22 goals, 39 assists) in 80 games in the regular season.
Kadri was on the ice during the morning skate Monday. The second-line center is working his way back from hand surgery following Game 3 in the Western Conference finals.
Kadri, 31, has six goals and eight assists over Colorado’s first 13 games of the playoffs, including a hat trick in Game 4 of the second-round series against the St. Louis Blues.
In 71 games in the regular season, Kadri tallied career highs with 87 points and 59 assists.
–Field Level Media
