Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper expressed his discontent following an incident in which forward Pontus Holmberg was injured during a 4-2 defeat to the Buffalo Sabres on Monday night.
In the third period, Holmberg lost his footing after a hit in open ice from Buffalo’s Peyton Krebs, causing him to crash shoulder-first into a penalty box door that had not been securely closed. The door swung open upon impact, and an official quickly shut it. Holmberg exited the game and was later observed with his left arm in a sling.
Cooper did not hide his frustration in his postgame remarks:
“I don’t know who’s working the penalty box over there, but I don’t know if they should keep their job after what happened there — like, leaving the door open. That could have hurt anybody on either team. Those are just dangerous situations.”
Cooper was not optimistic about Holmberg’s injury, describing it as “not good.” Reports indicate that the NHL has initiated an investigation into the incident that led to Holmberg’s left arm injury.
The 27-year-old player has achieved 22 points this season, with 11 goals and 11 assists in 70 games.
Lightning lose Pontus Holmberg to injury in 4-2 setback against Sabres
On Monday, the Buffalo Sabres secured a 5-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning at KeyBank Center. This win brought the Sabres to a record of 47-23-8 and 102 points, matching the Lightning for the top spot in the Atlantic Division.
Alex Tuch started the scoring for the Sabres, giving them a 1-0 lead at 5:42 in the first period. Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov equalized with a power-play goal at 11:45. Josh Norris then restored Buffalo’s lead to 2-1 as the game moved into the second period.
In the second period, Jake Guentzel equalized for Tampa Bay at 3:56. Jason Zucker put Buffalo ahead 3-2 before the third period. Jack Quinn sealed the victory for the Sabres with an empty-net goal at 18:06.
“This was a big game for us,” remarked Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff, according to NHL. “This was a big test for us tonight because we knew how big this game was. We knew it was against the team that was sitting there just ahead of us. We didn’t play well in the previous two games (against the Ottawa Senators and Washington Capitals), and good teams know how to have some pushback. And I thought our guys had great pushback.”
The Sabres are set to face the New York Rangers next at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday. The game begins at 6 p.m. ET.
Edited by Abhishek Dilta
