“I don’t know” – Lightning’s Brayden Point started practicing for Game 1 of Final Cup, status still unknown
Brayden Point
Tampa Bay Lightning’s forward Brayden Point is ready to hit the ice for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals, but his return notice is still not confirmed. He has missed 10 games till now, due to his lower-body injury. The game will be held at Ball Arena in Denver at 8 p.m ET on Wednesday. the forward went to was seen on the ice during Monday’s practice.
He injured himself during Game 7 of the Eastern Conference First Round against the Toronto Maple Leafs on May 14. It was the first time for Point to be with his full team after skating on his own for nearly two weeks. Still, Lightning’s assistant Jeff Harlpen isn’t sure if he is fully ready to face the finals. He quoted, “I don’t even know if it’s at that point yet medically,”. “A lot of times we get in touch with the guys on the ice and that’s when we see them, but I don’t know where he is in that and I don’t know if today was any indication. It was a pretty easy skate.”
The team is optimistic about Brayden Point’s return before Game 1
Tampa Bay Lightning’s coach Jon Cooper said he was feeling optimistic that Brayden Point will be able to skate along with the team after the Lightning advanced to the Finals defeating the New York Rangers with a 2-1 victory. Cooper said, “I don’t know about the probability of Game 1,”, “but it’s extremely probable that he will play in the series.“
Point’s return would add a boost to the team in their way to defeating the Colorado Avalanche and winning their third consecutive Stanley Cup for the season. Till now, without Brayden Point, the team is in 8-2 points. He scored 4 points in 7 games during the postseason including an overtime goal in a 4-3 victory against the Maple Leafs in Game 6.
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As penned on nhl.com, Brandon Hagel commented, “Obviously, no one wanted that to happen to ‘Pointer,’ but just seeing him on the ice, seeing that there is hope that he could potentially be in, that brings some confidence,”. “Obviously, everybody knows what he’s done the past two years, so whether he’s 80 per cent or 100 per cent, he’s still a class act, him coming out there, and hopefully at some point he’s ready.”
The team is optimistic about Point’s return before the Final Cup. Lightning forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare said, “When you go down, especially when you’re a key player, and they tell you it depends on how long we go if you have a chance to play again this season, that obviously [stinks],”. “So, to see him now, and he’s been a part of the process, he’s been there at the end of every game and sometimes between periods to give you positive words, and to have him be able to have a chance to be back in at this time of the year, this is the time. This is why we play the game, to be able to play in June. This is what you want.”
Kaushani Chatterjee
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