Bolts Injury Picture

The Tampa Bay Lightning are all of a sudden running into some injury troubles, just before the holiday break in the schedule. On Monday morning, Mike Smith suffered a minor MCL sprain in his knee in a collision during the morning skate and is now expected to be out of the line-up for a minimum of two weeks. The Lightning were able to call up Cedrick Desjardins before their game against the Hurricanes on Monday night, so he could back up Dan Ellis.  During the game, the Lightning reportedly lost the services of Ryan Malone for the 3rd period because of an upper-body injury, but the early reports suggest that the injury is minor and there is a good chance he'll be able to suit up on Wednesday on Long Island.

Smith has appeared in 17 games for the Lightning this year and has a record of 10-5-0 with no shutouts and no assists for a solid 20 points in the hockey pool this season.  Smith and Ellis have been splitting the duties in the Tampa crease this season, since neither have really been able to take a firm grasp of the number one job or at the very least, give reason why they shouldn't platoon the position anymore.

Currently, Smith ranks 137th in pool scoring with his 20 points, which is good for 28th among goaltenders this season.  A couple weeks away from the game may drop him out of the top 30, but he should get the starts to jump back in upon his return.

Malone has been enjoying a pretty good season through 11 weeks, playing in 33 games and scoring 9 goals and 17 assists for 26 points.  He's up to 67th in pool scoring, which is much better than the 145th ranking he finished with in the 2010 season.  If his injury is as minor as initially reported, then there shouldn't be a great worry about falling too far from his post at  the moment.

In the draft, Smith belongs to the 7th team of Ryan M.'s, who is only 15 points out of the money after Monday night's action.  Losing out on one of his goalies about now won't help his chances any, since the other teams are running at a fairly healthy click at the moment.  Ryan picked Smith 132nd overall (7th round) and was getting an even return on his pick, to pool ranking.

Malone's return has been quite a bit better, as Neil B. picked him 196th overall (10th round) and he's well in the top 100, so that's a pretty big win.  Neil now sits only 5 points behind Ryan in 8th place, gaining significant ground on him on Monday night.  We could see a reversal of fortunes here soon.

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