from Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times,

The Lightning will be without Ondrej Palat six to eight weeks. And Tampa Bay is still ticked by how Palat got hurt.

The Wild's Jared Spurgeon slashed/speared the back of the Lightning wing's right ankle on a power play Saturday.

"It's a huge loss for us on a complete non-hockey play that didn't have to take place," coach Jon Cooper said. "It's tough to swallow, I'll tell you that."

The NHL Department of Player Safety reviewed the play but determined the slash wasn't very forceful.

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