Lightning's Palat out 4 weeks with injury

Tampa Bay Lightning forward Ondrej Palat will miss four weeks with a lower-body injury, the team announced Thursday.

The 27-year-old missed Tampa Bay's last six games after blocking a shot in an Oct. 26 contest against the Vegas Golden Knights. With little progress being made in the recovery, the team decided to shut him down for a few weeks, head coach Jon Cooper noted Wednesday, according to Joe Smith of The Athletic.

Palat has struggled to begin the 2018-19 campaign. Through nine games he remains goalless with just five assists and 10 shots.

The Lightning, meanwhile, have been rolling with three straight victories and four in their last five contests, propelling them to the top of the Eastern Conference.