Point out for Lightning in Game 5 against Rangers
Center misses ninth straight game with lower-body injury, not ruled out for return in Eastern Final
© Eliot J. Schechter/Getty Images
The forward is out for a ninth straight game because of lower-body injury.
"If he plays, he's going to be ready to play," coach Jon Cooper said. "He's not ready to play right now."
On Wednesday, Cooper said Point had progressed enough that playing in Game 5 was not ruled out for the best-of-7 series, which is tied 2-2.
"I can honestly answer this question with 'I don't know,'" he said before the Lightning flew to New York. "I'll find out when I get on the plane, so I'll have an answer for you tomorrow. But now we're getting into the point where I don't know if there will be definitive outs.
"I'd be surprised if he plays this next game, honestly, but I'm not going to sit here and say he's out for the series anymore."
Point was injured in Game 7 of the first round against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Tampa Bay swept the Florida Panthers in four games in the second round without him and evened the series with New York after winning the past two games of the best-of-7 series at home.
Cooper said before the conference final that the Lightning were preparing as if Point would not play in the series. But after Point ramped up his time on the ice and his intensity while skating in recent days, he was much closer to being ready to play.
"These are things that that we thought could happen, but I want to temper everybody's expectations with what's going on because obviously it was a significant injury," Cooper said. "So I'm not going to push anything right now, but naturally the longer any series goes, there's a remote chance that he might be able to play. So I'll have an answer for you tomorrow."
RELATED: [Complete Rangers vs. Lightning series coverage]
Point had four points (two goals, two assists) in four playoff games before he was injured. He led Tampa Bay with 14 goals in each of the past two playoff runs, which culminated in Stanley Cup titles for the Lightning.
"We know he's going to do whatever he can and whenever he says he's good to go, we'll obviously welcome him back with open arms," Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh said. "He's been a huge part of our team success the last few years, no doubt about it, so we're anxiously awaiting and it if happen, it happens. If it doesn't, it doesn't."
Tampa Bay is focused on trying to win a game at Madison Square Garden, where New York is 8-1 this postseason, including victories in its past eight games. Coming off a nine-day break following their sweep of the Panthers, the Lightning struggled for much of the first two road games in this series.
After losing 6-2 in Game 1, the Lightning played better in the second half of a 3-2 loss in Game 2, returning to their defensive structure and cutting down on the turnovers that fed the Rangers' speed and transition game. Tampa Bay carried that into a 3-2 win in Game 3 and a 4-1 victory in Game 4, not allowing a 5-on-5 goal in either home game.
The Lightning have to translate what they did at home into a building that had proven difficult for a visitor to win in during the playoffs. But defenseman Victor Hedman pointed to Tampa Bay's 2-0 win there in Game 7 of the 2015 Eastern Conference Final as evidence it could be done.
"We've been in this situation before, having to win on the road, and we've proven in previous series in previous years that we can win on the road," Hedman said. "So we take that experience with us, but we're obviously faced with the fact that we've got to win one game up there. So for us, we've just got to go out and keep doing what we did at home."
The Lightning utilized the last change on home ice to match the line of Brandon Hagel, Anthony Cirelli and Alex Killorn and the defense pair of McDonagh and Erik Cernak against the Rangers' top line of Chris Kreider, Mika Zibanejad and Frank Vatrano. Artemi Panarin replaced Kreider on that line for part of Game 4, but New York's 5-on-5 play did not improve.
The Rangers have the last change in Game 5, so it will be more difficult for the Lightning to get that matchup. That will make it more important for Tampa Bay to maintain the other parts of its game that have improved during the series.
"I think [it's] sticking to our structure," Cirelli said. "I think these two home games is the way we want to play for most of the game and complete games, and I think we just have to have that mentality going in there, is play the same way, stick to our game plan and good things will happen. Obviously, they have the last change, but that shouldn't matter for us. We should just go out there and roll lines and just keep going line after line."
Tampa Bay feels it is better equipped to do that now than it was at the start of the series after shaking off the rust from its layoff and getting back in the rhythm of playing games every other day.
"We've seen the environment. We know what to expect now," Cooper said. "We've got four games under our belt. We know the team we're playing. I don't expect anything to change from them and how they play, and I don't expect anything to change from us. We're just a lot more prepared and way more game ready.
"I'm not going to guarantee the result, but definitely in a better spot than we were three or four games ago."
