Lightning to activate defenseman from LTIR ahead of must-win game vs. Panthers

Lightning defenseman Mikhail Sergachev is taking normal line rushes during warmup ahead of tonight’s must-win Game 4 against the Panthers, indicating he’s been activated off long-term injured reserve, per the team’s Chris Krenn. Sergachev has been out since fracturing his fibula and tibia during a game on Feb. 7, and head coach Jon Cooper said earlier this month that he wasn’t expected back until the second round at the earliest. The team later confirmed he’ll be entering the lineup as they try to stave off early elimination against their cross-state rivals.

Sergachev, 25, hasn’t played a full game in over four months. He sustained a lower-body injury against the Blues on Dec. 19 that kept him out of game action through the All-Star break and sustained the freak double-break in his left leg while attempting to lay a hit on Rangers winger Alexis Lafrenière in his first game back.

Those injuries limited the top-four fixture to 34 appearances in the regular season, his fewest as a Lightning. Before his initial injury, Sergachev was struggling to recapture his 2022-23 form that earned him Norris Trophy consideration for the first time. Offensively, his points per game pace dropped from 0.81 to 0.56, and his possession metrics dipped slightly as well. The latter was to be expected, though, after a salary cap crunch forced the Lightning to part with many key depth players after last season.

He was actually on the ice for fewer expected goals against per game at even strength than he was last season, something you wouldn’t glean from his -16 rating. That was tanked due to the majority of Sergachev’s playing time coming while starting netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy was out recovering from preseason back surgery, forcing inexperienced backup Jonas Johansson into most of the starts to begin the year.

Line rushes indicate he’ll be paired with Erik Černák as the Lightning begin to try and climb out of a 3-0 series deficit. The two were routinely partners when Sergachev was healthy this season, playing 238 minutes together in 31 games. Per MoneyPuck, the pair controlled 48% of expected goals when deployed together.

They’ll operate as Cooper’s second defense pairing behind Victor Hedman and Mathew Dumba in Game 4. Dumba moves up alongside Hedman as Darren Raddysh is a late scratch with an undisclosed injury. Raddysh took just two shifts in the third period of Game 3.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports.