'Very emotional' Sergachev returns, Lightning win
Mikhail Sergachev's return sparked the Tampa Bay Lightning to avoid postseason elimination with a 6-3 victory over the Florida Panthers in Game 4 of their first-round series on Saturday.
One of the Lightning's top defenseman had been out since fracturing the tibia and fibula in his left leg on Feb. 7. Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper had predicted the Lightning would need to "go far" in the playoffs to see Sergachev dress in another game. Sergachev surpassed all expectations by suiting up just 80 days following that break to be a last-minute addition to the Lightning's starters on Saturday.
"I felt like a hockey player again. It was unbelievable," said Sergachev. I found out yesterday the (doctors) cleared me, and it was coach (Cooper's) decision (if I played). I stayed at the rink a little longer waiting for the coach to say yes or no. And he said yes. I got very excited."
Sergachev had hoped he'd be able to come by for Game 1 of the series but that didn't pan out. Instead, he logged 17:03 in ice time and notched an assist on Brandon Hagel's second period goal through his Saturday debut. Sergachev admitted to being "a little bit tired" in the end after so long on the sidelines. But Sergachev's smile never wavered.
Even though he's played nearly 500 NHL games since being drafted by Tampa ninth overall in 2016 and established himself as one of the league's rising stars on defense, there were still a few butterflies present before Saturday's game.
"Honestly, I couldn't really sleep last night; it felt like my first NHL game again," Sergachev said. "And then you go on the ice, and you get that (reception) from the fans in the warmup -- it made me very emotional. I'm thankful to be here."
The Lightning are grateful to be alive in their series, too. Tampa - still trailing the Panthers 3-1 - narrowly avoided being swept by their-in-state rivals. The Lightning held a 3-0 lead after the first period of Saturday's game and Florida roared back to cut the score to 4-3 after 40 minutes. Tampa rallied again in a decisive final frame to hold Florida at bay and force the series to extend another game.
What drove Tampa was finally finding their footing offensively. The Lightning exploded up front like they hadn't been able to all series, led by two-goal performances from Steven Stamkos and Hagel and a three-point effort by Brayden Point. The Lightning power play also had its best showing of the postseason, going 2-for-5 on the night.
Stamkos gave credit to Sergachev's return for adding some emotional energy to the group before puck drop.
"I got chills myself, with the reception he got," said Stamkos. "The amount of work that goes into coming back from an injury like that, it's impressive. The timeline is impressive, everything he's done is extremely impressive. To go out there and jump into a series when we're down and on the ropes, it was a huge boost for our team. I thought Sergy played outstanding tonight. Hopefully that continues because he's a big part of our defense for sure."
Sergachev in turn thanked Stamkos for providing some much-needed inspiration from Stamkos' own recovery journey off a broken leg in 2013.
"Our trainer was showing me videos of Stammer skating like four weeks after [that injury]," said Sergachev. "That kind of pushed me and made me work because the first four weeks since the injury, it was tough mentally. But seeing those videos of him walking pretty much the next day and doing all that stuff kind of helped."
It wasn't easy for Sergachev to be back on the injured list as it was. That February game marked Sergachev's first night back from a previous lower-body injury that held him out for 17 contests. Sergachev was admittedly devasted to see his entire season halted at just 34 games, with two goals and 17 assists. And clearly he was missed, not only by the Lightning players but the fans who welcomed him warmly back on Saturday.
"Did you hear the introduction? The roar just kept going on," said Cooper. "All the guys on our bench got up. It was a stirring moment and I thought we carried that right into the first period."
Cooper had no hesitation either with inserting Sergachev immediately into an elimination game. Regardless of Sergachev potentially being rusty -- or the high stakes at hand -- Cooper knew his defenseman was a lock for the lineup.
"You can tell when a player is ready and when a player is not ready," said Cooper. "Yesterday, we knew he was ready. I just wanted to check the box today when he showed up. I've seen it time and time again. It's the look in the eye. He was a believer."
Tampa Bay will continue to believe as well that their playoff run won't end in Monday's Game 5 -- especially not with Sergachev now along for the ride.
"It was phenomenal," defenseman Victor Hedman said of having Sergachev in the mix. "We've watched from close up how hard he's worked to get to this day. Super impressed by the way he played. Big momentum boost for the guys. It's huge."
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12 of May 2024
