The Tampa Bay Lightning will likely play without one of their most reliable defensemen for most of their five-game road trip.

Anton Stralman will miss the next two games - and could possibly be out longer - due to an injury he suffered in Saturday's loss to the San Jose Sharks.

Lightning head coach Jon Cooper didn't want to speculate about whether Stralman would miss the entire trip.

"I can't sit here and say that, to be honest," Cooper told reporters including Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times on Monday.

"Definitely not playing in these two, probably won't play in the first three. We'll start making a decision here after a week. It'd be later in the trip if we're going to see Anton."

Stralman is considered day to day with what the club would only classify as an upper-body injury. He left Saturday's defeat with about five minutes remaining.

He scored in the game, and has seven points in 15 contests.

Stralman ranks second on the Lightning behind Victor Hedman with an average time on ice of 22:07.

The Lightning play the New York Islanders on Monday night, then travel to the Motor City to face the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday before heading to Buffalo, Philadelphia, and Nashville to round out the trip.