TAMPA -- Jon Cooper will not coach the Tampa Bay Lightning against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday (7:30 p.m. ET; HBO MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS) due to the death of his father, Robert, earlier this week.
Lightning assistant Rob Zettler will serve as acting head coach during Cooper's absence, which will also include their game at the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday.
"Well, I think you know his dad passed away two nights ago or the other night," Zettler said after the morning skate on Wednesday. "I spoke to him at length last night about a lot of personal stuff.
"Thoughts and prayers, as always, to 'Coop' and his family. That was the No. 1 thing -- that he takes care of business back home. He left this morning to go back to Vancouver."
Cooper, who coached Team Canada to the silver medal at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, is expected to be back with Tampa Bay on Saturday when it hosts the Buffalo Sabres.
Tampa Bay will have forward Brayden Point and defensemen Charle-Edouard D'Astous and Emil Lilleberg back in the lineup Wednesday. Point's injury forced him to miss the Olympics with Canada. Lightning center Anthony Cirelli (upper body), who also couldn't play for Canada at the Olympics, could return Saturday. Forward Nick Paul (lower body) was placed on injured reserve.
The Lightning (37-14-4) went 19-1-1 in their last 21 games before the Olympic break and are first in the Atlantic Division, six points ahead of the Montreal Canadiens and Detroit Red Wings.
"What I am really confident in is our guys," Zettler said. "They've been excellent in so many ways this year, including times like this where Coop's missing or something happens to one of the guys, and we've had guys step up all year.
"Whether it's injuries or personal reasons, people have missed games and they've really done an excellent job of responding. I expect nothing less and they expect nothing less of themselves."
The NHL returns from the Olympic break Wednesday with eight games. Team USA won the gold medal on Sunday by defeating Canada 2-1 in overtime.
"I was texting with [Cooper] on Monday when we were flying back [from Milan]," said Lightning forward Jake Guentzel, who played for the U.S. "Obviously a really sad day for him and his family.
"It's going to be different [without him on the bench], but we've just got to step up and try to get the win for him."
