Ondrej Palat’s reaction to having the full weight of Minnesota’s Nino Niederreiter come down on his left leg in an awkward spill during Saturday’s loss to the Wild was of great concern to Lightning fans, Palat grimacing as he struggled to put weight on the leg during his skate back to the bench and into the locker room.
On Monday, we learned why.
Palat will miss the next to three to five weeks of the season with a lower-body injury according to the team, creating a significant hole in a Lightning lineup still searching for offensive consistency.