The Lightning captain was seen limping down the tunnel to the locker room in the third period of Tampa Bay's last game Thursday in Columbus by reporters inside Nationwide Arena.
Stamkos played his last shift of the game a minute into the third. On that shift, he backhanded a puck deep into the offensive zone from just inside the blue line and stopped, bending over at the waist in discomfort with seemingly little if any contact before skating off the ice.
He did not re-enter the contest.
Stamkos missed two games earlier this season February 11 and 13 at Florida due to a lower-body injury. And he was forced to sit the final seven games of the 2019-20 regular season and nearly the entire 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs - save for a magical 2:47 in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final versus Dallas when he scored maybe the most iconic goal in Lightning franchise history - when he underwent surgery to repair a core muscle injury and suffered a compensatory injury during his rehab.
Asked if this latest injury was related to what he went through last season, Cooper didn't have an answer.
"I can only tell you what I know," the head coach said. "…He's getting checked out. We're hopeful he's going to be back here soon. A lot of this is precaution too. When you're on the road it's a little bit different than being at home. We're just taking this slowly, and hopefully all will be good by the time we get back to Tampa."
With Stamkos out, the Lightning will turn to Gemel Smith to take his place in the lineup tonight in Nashville. Smith last appeared for the Lightning February 25 and has skated in four games overall this season, recording three assists.
While with Tampa Bay's AHL affiliate in Syracuse, Smith scored a hat trick and tallied five points on March 24.
Two days later, he was re-assigned to the Lightning's taxi squad, where he's been since.
"When he's come in before, he's given us a really good boost," Cooper said of Smith. "Hopefully expect the same today."
Nashville is one of the hottest teams in the NHL currently having won three in a row and nine of its last 10 entering tonight's contest. The Predators, once thought to be a potential seller at the trade deadline, have put themselves in a good position to make the postseason, currently four points ahead of Chicago for the fourth and final playoff spot in the Central Division.
"They're a team that works extremely hard right now," Lightning forward Mathieu Joseph said. "Their work ethic is off the charts. They play a simple game. They bring pucks to the net, they defend and their goalie has been playing well. The next-man-up mentality has been working for them. We're going to have to be ready from the start tonight for sure. It's a team that's playing with a lot of confidence."
Puck drop between the Lightning and Predators is scheduled for 8 p.m. from Bridgestone Arena.
