Lightning coach Jon Cooper said the reception Sergachev got from the fans when he was announced in the starting lineup was something he had never heard before.
“In a normal introduction, you hear the players’ names, there’s a cheer, then it gets to (goalie Andrei) Vasilevskiy and there’s a cheer,” Cooper said. “I could not hear the PA guy say Vasilevskiy’s name. The roar just kept going on, so all the guys on our bench got out, it was a stirring moment and I thought we carried that into the first period.”
For Sergachev, the moment was a long time coming, 80 days to be exact, since he was stretchered off the ice at Madison Square Garden. That game at the New York Rangers was his first since he missed 17 games because of a lower-body injury.
He said he found out Friday he would be in the lineup.
“It was a coach’s decision, so I stayed at the rink a little longer waiting for the coach to say yes or no. And he said yes,” Sergachev said. “I was very excited. Honestly, I couldn’t sleep last night. It felt like my first NHL game again. And then you go on the ice and get that from the fans, in the warmup, it made me very emotional and I’m just thankful to be here.”
Cooper said he wasn’t so much concerned about Sergachev physically, but rather if he was mentally ready to get back into the lineup.
“The body is an amazing thing because the body heals. It’s a mental hurdle you have to get over,” Cooper said. “And at some point, you’re going to play a game. And it’s not like we can sit here and say we’re going to put him in a regular-season game before a playoff game, he’s going to have to step into a playoff game.
“You can tell when a player is ready and when a player is not ready. And yesterday, we knew he was ready. I just wanted to check the box today when he showed up today because I’ve seen it time and time again, it’s the look in the eye. And he was a believer.”
While Sergachev was sitting next to Stamkos during the postgame press conference, he thanked the Lightning captain for inspiring him to come back. It was on Nov. 11, 2013, when Stamkos broke his leg in Boston crashing into the net. He was back on the ice on March 6, about four months later.
“I want to thank ‘Stammer,’ because he broke his leg and Mikey our trainer was showing me videos of Stammer skating like four weeks after,” Sergachev said. “And you know, that kind of pushed me and made me work because those first four weeks after the injury it was tough.
“But you know, seeing those videos of him walking like pretty much the next day and doing all of that stuff kind of helped.”
Sergachev didn’t just provide an emotional lift. He assisted on Brandon Hagel’s goal that gave Tampa Bay a 4-1 lead at 9:40 of the second period and had one blocked shot in 17:03 of ice time.
