Tampa Bay Lighting captain Steven Stamkos will be sidelined with a lateral meniscus tear in his right knee, per an official announcement from the team on Wednesday.

“Tampa Bay Lightning captain Steven Stamkos suffered a lateral meniscus tear in his right knee during the team’s game against the Detroit Red Wings Tuesday night and will remain out of the lineup indefinitely,” said Lightning GM Steve Yzerman in a pres release. “We are in the process of evaluating options for repair and rehabilitation and will release more information as it becomes available.”

Stamkos left Tampa Bay’s 4-3 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday with what the Lighting initially called a lower-body injury. The MRI Stamkos underwent on Wednesday back in Tampa confirmed the severity of the injury.

Last season, Stamkos missed the Lighting’s final five regular season games due to a blood clot that restricted him to only one playoff game.

“It’s something we’ve been through before,” Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said Wednesday night per Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times. “You never want to lose your top goal scorer, and your captain. But not too long ago we were in this situation.”

With Stamkos on the shelf, the Lighting are now dealing with injuries for six different players with the other five being Anton Stralman, Jonathan Drouin, Johnny Gaudreau, Taylor Hall and Darren Helm.

The 26-year-old Stamkos has 9 goals, 11 assists, and 20 points through 17 games this season.

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