TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Tampa Bay defenseman Mikhail Sergachev was a surprise addition to the lineup for a must-win Game 4 against the Florida Panthers on Saturday night after being out since early February with a broken left leg.
Sergachev had surgery one day after he got hurt during a game at the New York Rangers on Feb. 8.
Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper had said before the playoff series started that the top-four defenseman would miss the matchup. But in his pregame media session Saturday, Cooper indicated that some roster decisions would be made after the pregame skate.
Sergachev appeared in 34 regular-season games, picking up two goals and 17 assists.
Defenseman Darren Raddysh, limited to 13:11 of playing time in Thursday's Game 3, was scratched.
Defenseman Haydn Fluery, who hasn't appeared in game since being in a scary center-ice collision in the third period of a game at Pittsburgh on Apr. 16 with referee Steve Kozari, is practicing, but remains out.
Kozari, taken off on a stretcher following the collision, is back working in the playoffs.
The Lightning trailed the Panthers 3-0 in the best-of-seven series.
A state report says hundreds of frail elderly nursing home residents were stacked side by side, head to toe in a small church with no working air conditioning or refrigerator during Hurricane Helene.
