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Craig Out After Suffering Left Knee Injury

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By ERIK ERLENDSSON, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 27, 2007

TAMPA - The Lightning will be without the services of forward Ryan Craig for at least a month, and possibly longer.

An MRI exam on Craig's left knee revealed the 25-year-old winger has a partially torn ACL and a sprained MCL and is out indefinitely. Craig was injured in the first period of Saturday's game against New Jersey and did not return. Center Craig MacDonald was recalled from AHL Norfolk on Monday to take Craig's spot on the roster.

The plan is for Craig to undergo rehabilitation to strengthen the ligaments and see how he reacts to treatment.

"At this time no decision has been made on whether to do surgery," Lightning general manager Jay Feaster.

In his second full season with the Lightning and third overall, Craig has established himself as a versatile forward called on in all situations. He kills penalties, can play in front of the net on the power play, is often on the ice after a goal is scored and is one of the players Lightning coach John Tortorella calls upon in the final minutes of a game to protect a lead.

"If you look at how John has used him, he's like a security blanket because of what he can do," Feaster said. "He fills a lot of different roles."

Craig missed the first 16 games of the season after suffering a herniated disc in his back during the preseason. He returned on Nov. 10, scoring a goal in his first game back during a 5-2 victory at Washington. In seven games he has two points and eight penalty minutes. Craig also missed eight games last season with a MCL strain in his right knee and then two more games at the end of the season with a strain in his left knee.

MacDonald, who played in 14 games to start the season before being sent down to Norfolk, is expected to get the initial shot at replacing Craig in the lineup centering the fourth line while Andreas Karlsson is also available. MacDonald has 174 games of NHL experience with Carolina, Florida, Boston, Calgary, Chicago and Tampa Bay. The 30-year-old has also played 320 games in the AHL level.

KUBA STILL OUT: Lightning defenseman Filip Kuba did not practice Monday, sitting out with an abdominal injury that forced him to miss Saturday's game against New Jersey.

The team's leader in plus/minus with a plus-16 rating did not miss a game due to injury last season. He set a career high with 15 goals and 37 points last season and has two goals and 10 points in 22 games this season.

Tortorella said he expects Kuba to play in Wednesday's game at Chicago.

NO MORE WHINING: Tortorella said he doesn't want to read or hear any more comments from the entire Lightning organization criticizing the referees.

Tortorella was fined last week for comments following an overtime loss in Atlanta on Nov. 19 where some questionable calls caught the team's ire. As the week wore on, calls continued to go against the team culminating with an apparent tying goal waved off after a video review.

"I do not want to hear any more from the organization, players, coaches, trainers, anybody about officials," he said. "That isn't what this is about. That's not how you win hockey games. We need to stop that."

Reporter Erik Erlendsson can be reached at (813) 259-7835 or eerlendsson@tampatrib.com.

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