Sam O'Reilly debuts for Lightning with Brayden Point out

First, the reason he's here. Point left Sunday's 4-3 loss to Winnipeg with a lower-body injury, and Jon Cooper still doesn't have a timeline.

Eduardo A. Encina

@EddieInTheYard

Asked #GoBolts’ Jon Cooper about Brayden Point’s prognosis. He’s currently on IR so he’s out at least a week from Sunday. Cooper said he will know more after Saturday’s game. Point isn’t with the team on this road trip to Buffalo and Columbus.

That's a big hole. Point had 5 goals and 16 points through 17 games, and Tampa placed him on injured reserve Tuesday without giving a prognosis. He isn't even on the trip to Buffalo and Columbus, so the Bolts need a forward who can play real minutes right away, not a call-up who sits on the 4th line and gets 8 shifts.

Cooper picked O'Reilly, and his explanation is worth reading. The kid isn't lighting up the scoresheet in Syracuse, with 2 goals and 4 points in 12 AHL games, but Cooper cares more about the shot volume and what he's hearing from the Crunch staff.

Eduardo A. Encina

@EddieInTheYard

Cooper on O’Reilly: “He checks a lot of boxes for us, especially w/ Point out. you can look & say, Well, he doesn't have ton of points, but he's like 2nd or 3rd in the team in shots & pucks just haven't gone in for him @ the time. By all the reports he's been awesome down there.

Some background. Edmonton took O'Reilly 32nd overall in 2024, and Tampa got him in 2025 in the deal that sent Isaac Howard to the Oilers. He also won back-to-back Memorial Cups, with London in 2025 and Kitchener in 2026. That's the kind of résumé that gets a 20-year-old trusted in spots most rookies don't get in game 1.

The best part of the night happened before puck drop. His parents and 2 sisters made the trip from Toronto, and this was waiting for him on the back of an old photo:

Eduardo A. Encina

@EddieInTheYard

When Sam O’Reilly was 7 years old, he took a photo of him playing hockey and wrote “My dream is to become a NHL player,” on the back. Tonight, he does just that 13 years later, making his #NHL debut for the #GoBolts.

Cooper didn't ease him in, either. O'Reilly started at center between Jake Guentzel and Yanni Gourde, took the opening faceoff, and was out there when Tampa got its first power play, on a top unit that usually has Point on it.

Lightning Insider

@Erik_Erlendsson

First power play unit, without Point #GoBolts D'Astous-Carlson-Guentzel-Kucherov-O'Reilly

Next up: Columbus on this same road trip, then Saturday, when Cooper says he'll know more about Point. If O'Reilly's shots start going in before then, Tampa has a problem it'll be happy to have once Point is healthy.