The Tampa Bay Lightning's scoring woes took another step back on Monday when the team announced forward Ondrej Palat will miss 3-5 weeks with a lower-body injury.

Palat suffered the injury on Saturday in Minnesota. Palat was defending against Wild forward Nino Niederreiter in front of the net when they both fell and Niederreiter landed on Palat's ankle. Palat required assistance leaving the ice for the locker room.

Before the injury, Palat was one of many Lightning players struggling to find their offensive touch early in the season. Tampa Bay ranks 22nd in the league with 2.38 goals per game, a far cry from when they led the NHL last season with 3.16 goals per game.

Palat had just two goals and seven points in 16 games before the injury, which was still good for sixth-best on a team with a mediocre 7-7-2 record. With just 12 healthy forwards available, the Lightning are expected to call up a player before they host the Buffalo Sabres at home on Tuesday.