Be sure to 'like' Hockeybuzz on Facebook!
The Tampa Bay Lightning are full-on limping into the postseason.
In their second straight loss, this one complete with a two-goal collapse in a 3-2 final against Henrik Lundqvist (39 saves on 41 shots against) and the New York Rangers, the Lightning received word before the game that Ryan Callahan (lower-body injury) and defenseman Victor Hedman (upper-body) would be unable to play and would be evaluated later.
Callahan has battled a slight injury bug of late, so his absence isn’t necessarily startling, but the loss of the 25-year-old Hedman, the Lightning’s No. 1 defenseman, was a huge one. Already without the services of Anton Stralman (non-displaced fracture in his left fibula), the injury to Hedman forced the Bolts to roll with a top-pairing of Jason Garrison and Andrej Sustr, while it would be veteran Matt Carle that finished the night as the point’s time-on-ice leader (23:12).
Seemingly injured on a hit from New York Islanders defenseman Thomas Hickey, the vague ‘upper-body’ tagline next to Hedman’s injury seemed alarming at first glance.
But Lightning head coach Jon Cooper seemed to put those concerns -- and the dreaded concussion worries -- to bed with his appearance on NHL Live on an off-day for the Lightning.
“We expect Victor [Hedman] back,… Cooper said of the Hedman ailment. “Whether he’s gonna play these last two games or not.. This is probably more a little bit of body maintenance for him because we need him healthy for the playoffs. It really tests your depth as an organization and unfortunately we’re missing some big guns, but hopefully we can slowly get them back for the playoffs.…
Cooper also noted the need for the Bolts’ young defensemen -- some of whom came through with solid play last night in NY -- to come through with big games in the absence of both Hedman and Stralman.
“Now you look at the [Nikita] Nesterovs, and the [Slater] Koekkoeks, and the Sustrs, and those guys gotta play the minutes for you now,… said Cooper. “We have a good veteran group in Carle, [Braydon] Coburn, and Garrison, but now it’s up to those young kids to come up and show us what they have.…
The Lightning, who made it to their first Stanley Cup Final since 2004 last spring, can lock themselves into the No. 2 spot in the Atlantic Division with a win in either of these final two games of the season.
Ty Anderson has been covering the National Hockey League for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010, has been a member of the Pro Hockey Writers Association's Boston Chapter since 2013, and can be contacted on Twitter, or emailed at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com.