In the aftermath of a 4-3 overtime loss to the Detroit Red Wings at AMALIE Arena on April 11, Tampa Bay Lightning forward Oliver Bjorkstrand felt sore.
But this is the NHL. Sore is the expectation after 60-plus minutes of body checking, full skating strides and blocking shots of over 100 mph whenever possible.
In this case, the knee of an opposing player had caught Bjorkstrand in the thigh, causing a pain which the Danish forward compared to the feeling of a charlie-horse muscle cramp.
In short order, that pain escalated.
“I played the game, didn’t think too much of it,” Bjorkstrand said. “I was hurting a little bit after the game and as time went on that night, the pain kind of got worse and worse.”
Lightning head athletic trainer Tom Mulligan checked in with Bjorkstrand throughout the night before contacting the team doctor around 2 a.m., and wisely so—Bjorkstrand was soon whisked into emergency surgery to rectify a condition called compartment syndrome, in which heightened pressure around a muscle restricts proper blood flow.
If not treated quickly, compartment syndrome can cause permanent damage to nerve and muscle tissue.
Bjorkstrand was rushed into surgery, in which Tampa General Hospital orthopedic trauma specialist Dr. Anjan Shah cut open the leg to relieve pressure and release some of the pooled blood.
“It was obviously more serious than I probably anticipated,” Bjorkstrand said. “I didn’t really expect a full on surgery that night and to be out for a while. It was kind of a crazy night, and obviously the days ahead of that too were a little bit overwhelming.”
The 30-year-old forward spent five days in the hospital. The incision was left open for about two days while a tube removed excess blood from his leg, and the wound had to be closed days later. He spent two days in recovery.
“I didn’t expect that coming out of a game feeling OK and going home and ending up at the hospital,” he said. “It was a crazy few days.”
Bjorkstrand will make a full recovery and is expected to be ready for next season. He returned to the ice for the first time last week. He likely has about two to four weeks left before feeling back to 100%.
When the doctor told him he would need immediate surgery, Bjorkstrand admitted his mind kept flashing between missing time and hoping to relieve the intense pain. Bjorkstrand has never met someone affected by compartment syndrome.
“I didn't have too much time to really think about what was going on and missing time and so on. But of course, you're sitting there and you're like, ‘Oh no’. You get traded and you're ready for playoffs and you're so excited about that, and then out of nowhere you're getting cut open,” he said.
“You definitely start thinking about the possibility of missing the playoffs. And of course you don't want an emergency surgery either. So a lot of thoughts were going on.”
In his end of season media availability last week, Lightning vice president and general manager Julien BriseBois credited Dr. Sean Lannon, an orthopedic surgeon in the Tampa area, for his role in the situation. Lannon executed a house call for Bjorkstrand at 2 a.m. before helping to expedite the player's care at the emergency room.
“If they hadn't acted that quickly, the injury, the rehab would have been considerably more serious,” BriseBois said. “But because of Dr. Lannon’s quick, prompt and over-and-above service that he provided Oliver that night, he was able to limit the damage, and now we expect Oliver to make a full recovery.”
Stitches from the surgery were removed recently, and Bjorkstrand is exercising regularly. He hoped to return for the Lightning in the playoffs, but time didn’t allow that.
Bjorkstrand remembers the shock of learning what was happening, and his teammates were just as surprised. They went to bed on April 11, a normal day. They awoke the next morning to news that one of their teammates was rushed into emergency surgery in the early morning hours.
“I think when news came out the next morning that it was the middle of the night and I got the surgery, it's probably like, ‘What the hell just happened?’ But everybody was super supportive, sending texts, reaching out,” Bjorkstrand said. “You really feel that, and it means a lot. It's only been a short time here, but everybody's really nice and it's a great group of guys here.”
After being acquired from the Seattle Kraken in a March trade, Bjorkstrand was excited for his first playoff experience with Tampa Bay. Though that didn’t happen this season, these last few weeks of unexpected rehabilitation have him energized even further for 2025-26.
"You see playoffs, you're not a part of it because you're injured. It sucks. So it's another summer of thinking about what the ultimate goal is, and that's obviously winning the Stanley Cup. Being here in Tampa with this team, I believe it gives you a really good chance to be able to compete for it and win. One more year on my deal and I want to do well here, I want to help the team and just play good hockey.
"So I’m very motivated.”
