Tampa Bay Lightning captain Vincent Lecavalier has a broken bone in his left foot, according to a report from The Tampa Bay Times.
Lecavalier has missed three straight games including Mondays’ 4-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers after the team placed Lecavalier on injured reserve with a lower body injury last Thrusday with no target date for his return.
The 32-year-old initially suffered the injury late in a game against the Florida Panthers on March 12.
“It didn’t look like anything, but obviously something did happen,” Lecavalier told the Times Monday. “I guess you could say it’s kind of a fluky thing. I’m going to train here and make sure that when I’m back playing, I’ll be ready to go.”
According to the report, Lecavalier won’t travel with the team on its three-game road trip that starts Wednesday against the Toronto Maple Leafs and that the centre’s activities have been limited to off-ice.
“It’s more of a waiting game and waiting and rest it,” Lecavalier said. “I can still do some other stuff. Skating right now is not a possibility.”
The former first-overall pick in the 1998 NHL Draft has seven goals and 22 points in 26 games this season.
“Definitely disappointing, especially to be in the situation we’re in right now, fighting for the playoffs,” Lecavalier added. “Nothing but kind of a little bit of a waiting game. Work out hard, be ready to play when I’m ready.”
After winning six of the first seven games of the season, the Lightning have struggled in recent weeks and currently sit tied for 11th place in the Eastern Conference.