The Tampa Bay Lightning breathed a bit of a sigh of relief following the latest Brayden Point injury update on Tuesday. Head coach Jon Cooper announced that the top line centre is week-to-week with an evident knee injury.
What Do We Know from Lightning Player’s Injury
The incident occurred on Monday night during the Lightning’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers. There was not Point injury update immediately after the game. But testing apparently revealed that Point did not sustain a major injury. That situation prompted Cooper to declare the following, that “We avoided the worst-case scenario.”
The comments, as reported by Daily Faceoff, suggest that Point did not suffer any torn knee ligaments. Such a situation would have led to surgery and potentially missing the remainder of this season and possibly the Stanley Cup Playoffs. As such, Cooper declared on Point’s status. “His season is not over, but he is week-to-week.”
That’s an encouraging Point injury update for the Lightning. However, by “week-to-week,” the 29-year-old could still be out long-term. That situation could put a dent in the Lightning’s recent winning streak.
Heading into Wednesday’s action, the Lightning have won 11 in a row and have climbed to the top of the NHL’s Atlantic Division standings. The Bolts pulled out a gritty 2-1 win over the Penguins on Tuesday night via the shootout. The win marked Tampa’s first game without Point.
Team Canada Holding Its Breath following Point Injury Update
The other party holding its breath following the latest Brayden Point injury update is Team Canada. Point was among the first six names pegged for the 2026 Winter Olympics next month.
However, Point’s injury status could cloud his participation in the games. The Lightning forward will have about four weeks to recover. That may be just enough time for him to get back into playing shape.
Jon Cooper, who’s also Team Canada’s head coach, offered the following comments after Monday night’s game against the Flyers, per NHL.com.
“Let’s talk about the elephant in the room, there’s a big tournament coming up in a month (Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026), and he’s a big part of [Team Canada]. So, let’s just hope everything turns out all right.”
Cooper isn’t ruling Point out at this juncture. Likely, Team Canada will wait for another Point injury update in the coming weeks before deciding. If Point is unfit to play, a replacement will take his spot. One of the first names on the list could be Florida Panthers Sam Bennett.
Bennett was a member of Canada’s Gold Medal team at the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off last year. This year, however, Bennett did not get the call for the Olympics. The thought is that Bennett remains in play and could be the first man up in case of an injury situation. Other names top on the list would likely include Connor Bedard and Mark Scheifele. In any sense, Point, and to some degree Cooper, too, would just prefer this injury isn’t enough to hold him out of the Olympics.
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