In the closing seconds of regulation against the Dallas Stars, the Tampa Bay Lightning lined up to take a defensive zone face-off following an icing call with about six seconds left on the clock. The Stars won the face-off and Thomas Harley wristed a shot towards the net. As he has done 1,991 times previously in his 15-year career Ryan McDonagh blocked the shot.
The veteran was engaged in the front of the net with Mason Marchment, but saw the shot coming. As he starts to turn away from it, the puck glances off of Marchment’s stick and the redirected path takes it right to the side of McDonagh’s face/ear. He dropped to the ice and the officials immediately stopped play. McDonagh was able to make it back to his feet and was escorted to the locker room by head athletic trainer, Tom Mulligan.
Following the game, head coach Jon Cooper didn’t have an update on McDonagh’s status telling the media,
“I don’t [have an update]. Warrior. You always hate to see that happen, but that’s what that kid is. Hopefully, he should be okay.”
It’s not the first time he’s had a puck stopped by his face. Back in 2022, he took a shot off of his right cheek in a game against the New York Islanders that knocked him out of the line-up for several weeks. Due to the injury, he was in the press box for Nashville’s first game against the Lightning since his surprising trade the previous summer.
McDonagh has appeared in all 68 games this season, his first back with the Lightning after spending the last two in Nashville and is sitting at 996 games played in his career. The 35-year-old has 22 points (2 goals, 20 assists) while averaging 20:38 of ice time.
If he was to miss any time, the Lightning would be losing their anchor on defense. His return to the line-up has given Coach Cooper the shut-down pairing he has been missing over the last couple of seasons as McDonagh and Erik Cernak can be on the ice for the toughest opponents, freeing Victor Hedman up to Victor Hedman things.
The McDonagh/Cernak pairing has posted a 1.37 GA/60 while they’re on the ice, by far the lowest of any of the usual defensive combinations. Across the NHL, only New Jersey’s Johnathan Kovacevic and Jonas Siegenthaler have a better GA/60 rate for pairings who have played at least 400 minutes of 5v5 together.
The Lightning have been carrying (and playing) seven defensemen since the trade deadline. If he misses either of the games this weekend, Coach Cooper does have a couple of options. He could move J.J. Moser back to his natural left side and pair him with Cernak. They have played roughly 31 minutes together this season with less-than-optimal results (5.79 GA/60, 36.51 xGF%. and 33.96 CF%). Coach Cooper could also elect to keep his top pairing together and flip Nick Perbix to his offside while promoting Emil Lilleberg to second-pairing minutes.
