The Tampa Bay Lightning’s defence corps suffered a blow on Tuesday with the news of Radko Gudas hitting the shelf for the next four months.
Gudas, 24, has been a steady physical presence on the Lightning’s back-end, but he will miss the remainder of the regular season with a right knee injury.
The Lightning announced that Gudas had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee Tuesday and set a four month timetable for his return.
Gudas has just five points in 32 games this season, but he has made a positive impact in his own end. The native of the Czech Republic has helped form an effective defensive pairing with Jason Garrison, and he’s also had some success skating with Matt Carle and Mark Barberio at times during the 2014-15 campaign.
The 6-foot-4, 204 pound defenceman could rejoin the team at some point during the playoffs.
