Lightning's Stamkos to undergo core muscle surgery, out 6-8 weeks
30-year-old captain has 29 goals, 66 points in 57 games this season
Tampa Bay Lightning captain Steven Stamkos will undergo surgery Monday and miss approximately six to eight weeks, the team announced Saturday.
Just before puck drop in a matinee game against the visiting Calgary Flames, the organization issued a statement that said Stamkos will go to St. Louis for surgery to repair a lingering core muscle injury.
Stamkos, 30, did not skate one shift in the final period of the club's 4-3 home loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday night, then missed the Lightning's 5-2 defeat Thursday against the visiting Chicago Blackhawks.
A 12-year veteran and 60-goal scorer in the 2011-12 campaign, Stamkos produced 66 points — 29 of them on goals — through 57 games this season, ranking him second on the team in both categories. He was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2008 NHL Draft, selected by the Lightning.
His rehab timeline would have him returning to the Lightning's lineup in mid-April at the earliest — after the start of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
The Eastern Conference team currently slots in second in the Atlantic Division behind the first-place Boston Bruins.