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Victor Hedman

Lightning Notes: Hedman, Cernak, Eyssimont, Cirelli

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Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman is classified as a game-time decision for tonight’s third game against Toronto, head coach Jon Cooper told reporters including Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times.  The veteran, who took part in line rushes with Nick Perbix in the morning skate, will take the pregame skate, a step he was unable to do in Thursday’s second game.  While his production was down sharply this season, he still managed 49 points in 76 games while logging nearly 24 minutes a night and he would certainly be a significant boost to a back end that struggled considerably on Thursday night.

More from Tampa Bay:

  • Encina also notes that blueliner Erik Cernak isn’t expected to return tonight. He was injured in the opening game of the series after taking a hit to the head from Michael Bunting, a play that earned the winger a three-game suspension.  Cernak did not take part in the morning skate.  The 25-year-old averaged nearly three hits per game this season while chipping in with 14 points in 70 games.  Notably, Cernak also led all Lightning blueliners in shorthanded playing time per game.
  • While they won’t get Cernak back, Encina relays that the Lightning will have the option of putting forward Mikey Eyssimont back in the lineup. The 25-year-old suffered a head injury in the series opener.  Eyssimont has been a regular most nights on Tampa Bay’s fourth line but with Tanner Jeannot returning on Thursday, it’s not a guarantee that he’ll be suiting up even after being cleared to return.
  • TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie mentions (Twitter link) that center Anthony Cirelli took part in the morning skate today, a sign that he should be able to suit up tonight. He took a hit from Auston Matthews late in the third in Game Two but it appears it won’t keep him out of action.

Victor Hedman Out For Game Two

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Mark Masters of TSN reports that all-star defenseman Victor Hedman will not dress in game two, as the Tampa Bay Lightning look to take a commanding lead against the Toronto Maple Leafs. In now the 10th playoff stretch throughout his career, this will only be the third game that Hedman has ever missed in the quest for Lord Stanley.

During the Lightning’s dominating win against the Maple Leafs Tuesday night, Hedman would only see the ice for about six and a half minutes, before leaving the rest of the game with an undisclosed injury. It appears the injury is substantial, as he will not be skating for the team in game two, and defenseman Haydn Fleury will take his place in the lineup.

Although Hedman would only play a handful of minutes, it did not appear to affect the Lightning all that much. However, with the potent offense of the Maple Leafs staring them down, Hedman is a major piece to be missing for Tampa Bay. A winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy during the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs, Hedman is one of the better playoff performers of the past decade.

On the other side of the puck, the Maple Leafs now have an even better opportunity to knock off the three-time defending Eastern Conference Champions. As game two gets underway shortly, and putting aside the surefire game one victory, the Lightning will have an uphill battle without one of their top players in the lineup.

Lightning Notes: Hedman, Jeannot, Eyssimont

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The Tampa Bay Lightning could have Victor Hedman back in the lineup tonight against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The big defenseman took the morning skate, and is a game-time decision. Hedman left game one early with what head coach Jon Cooper deemed a”new” injury, but might not miss much important action. The Lightning rolled over Toronto in game one while playing shorthanded, after Erik Cernak also left with a head injury.

Cernak has been ruled out, but it is a good sign for Lightning fans that Hedman is this close, even if he happens to miss tonight.

Here are some more Lightning injury notes:

  • All indications are that Tanner Jeannot will make his Tampa Bay postseason debut tonight, less than two weeks after suffering what appeared to be a serious injury. The former Nashville Predators forward was the team’s big deadline addition and could add another level of physicality to the series. Jeannot scored just one goal in 20 games with the Lightning after the trade but racked up 77 hits, even averaging fewer than 12 minutes a night.
  • Mikey Eyssimont, who also left game one after a big hit, has been ruled out for game two but took part in morning skate. That’s another good sign that he could return this series, giving the Lightning some more depth as they try to knock Toronto out for the second year in a row.

Lightning Notes: Cernak, Eyssimont, Hedman

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The Tampa Bay Lightning won the first game of their series with the Toronto Maple Leafs by a score of 7-3. But it was not all smooth sailing for the Bolts as they had a number of injuries to deal with following the opening game of what they hope is their fourth consecutive trip to the Stanley Cup Final. Some lineup shuffling is expected before the two teams meet again for Game 2.

Kristen Shilton of ESPN reports that Erik Cernak will be out of the lineup on Thursday night. The big Lightning defenseman did not return after he took a nasty hit from Michael Bunting and left Game 1. Bunting was sentenced with a match penalty and will be suspended for the next three games of the series for the headshot that knocked Cernak out of the lineup. The 25-year-old defenseman plays a top-four role with the Lightning, averaging 19:14 per game in the regular season while leading the team in average ice time per game while shorthanded.

  • Trade dealing acquisition Michael Eyssimont was also shaken up in Game 1 due to a questionable hit. Jake McCabe appeared to catch the Lightning forward with a headshot and he left the game. Chris Krenn of NHL.com reports Eyssimont will not play in Game 2. The 26-year-old winger scored two points in 15 games with the Lightning after being acquired from the San Jose Sharks.
  • Eduardo A Encina of Tampa Bay Times reports Victor Hedman will be a gametime decision in Game 2. The star defenseman left the opening game after the first period, briefly returned to the bench, then left the game for good early in the middle frame. With Cernak out, the Lightning blue line starts to look pretty thin if Hedman is unable to play as well. The 32-year-old defenseman scored nine goals and 49 points this season and played a big role in all situations for the Lightning, averaging 23:43 per game in the regular season.

Michael Bunting Suspended Three Games

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The NHL’s Department of Player Safety has announced that Toronto Maple Leafs forward Michael Bunting has been suspended for three games for his hit on Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Erik Cernak. Bunting will miss games 2-4 of the Lightning-Leafs first round series while Cernak will not play in game two on Thursday after taking the hit to the head.

Tampa Bay could also be without the services of defenseman Victor Hedman, who will be a game time decision for game two. Hedman also left the Lightning’s 7-3 victory with an undisclosed injury and did not return. The hit on Cernak led to a match penalty and a five-minute powerplay that the Lightning ultimately cashed in on twice. Tampa Bay was 4-8 on the man advantage in game one.

Bunting has been a revelation for the Leafs after coming over from the Arizona Coyotes on a two-year deal. After putting up 63 points last season in 79 games, this year he put up 49 points in 82 games. Despite his strong offensive numbers, the Bunting incident is eerily similar to the suspension issues the Maple Leafs dealt with when Nazim Kadri was in Toronto. He had several incidents in the playoffs that eventually led to a trade to the Colorado Avalanche and now Bunting has had a few issues this season with various run-ins with the league. However none have led to suspensions until his hit in game one.

East Notes: Hedman, Duclair, Puljujarvi

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The Tampa Bay Lightning are getting a boost to their lineup tonight with the return of Victor Hedman, according to Dave Randorf, the team’s play-by-play commentator. Hedman missed the team’s past two games after crashing heavily into the boards against the Carolina Hurricanes last weekend. The 6-foot-7 defenseman is having a solid season with six goals and 42 points in 60 games, but it is a bit off his pace after he put up 85 points last season. Still, the team leans heavily on their star defender who is averaging 23:59 per night which leads the team.

The Lightning have not been playing their best hockey lately, so they will be happy to have Hedman back. The team is 1-4-2 in their past seven games and though they appear destined to face the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round once again, they will need to get back on track in a hurry if they want to gain home-ice advantage in that series. The Lightning are currently four points back of the Leafs in the standings.

  • The Florida Panthers announced Anthony Duclair will be in the lineup tonight. Duclair missed last night’s overtime win over the Chicago Blackhawks with an illness, but is good to go this evening as the Panthers host the Winnipeg Jets. The Panthers are scratching and clawing for every point as they sit four points back of the final wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference. Duclair has been limited to just five games this season after suffering an achilles tendon injury in the offseason, and has added three points in those games.
  • The Carolina Hurricanes finally get to welcome Jesse Puljujarvi to the lineup this evening. Nearly two weeks after being acquired from the Edmonton Oilers, the Finnish winger will play his first game in Carolina. He dealt with some visa issues that delayed his arrival, and then joined the team in Montreal just before they faced the Canadiens on Tuesday. The coaching staff elected to have him settle in and practice with the team for a few days before finally taking the ice on the fourth line tonight with Paul Stastny and Stefan Noesen.

Victor Hedman Out Day-To-Day

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Per Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper, star defenseman Victor Hedman is out day-to-day with an injury and won’t play in tonight’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Hedman took a spill into the endboards during Saturday’s 6-0 defeat at the Carolina Hurricanes and remained on the ice, favoring his lower back. He attempted to return to the game but skated a short shift before exiting for good.

While it’s never good to be without your number-one defenseman, Cooper’s announcement that Hedman’s injury isn’t long-term is a relief for those invested in the organization.

It’s not all bad news on the injury front for Tampa, too. Defenseman Erik Cernak is slated to return tonight after missing the last two games with a lower-body injury. While his advanced metrics suggest a slip in his defense this year, the team still struggled to keep the puck out of the net in his absence, conceding 11 goals in those two games.

Haydn Fleury, a frequent healthy scratch this season, will draw into the lineup without Hedman available. The team will lean heavily on Mikhail Sergachev, who’s tied for the team lead in points from defensemen with Hedman, during what’s hopefully a short-term absence for the latter.

The 32-year-old Hedman has recorded six goals and 42 points in 60 games for the Lightning this season, skating nearly 24 minutes per game, down slightly from his totals the last two seasons.

Snapshots: Zuccarello, Hedman, Lambert

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The Minnesota Wild will be without a member of their top line this weekend. Dane Mizutani of The Pioneer Press reports that right wing Mats Zuccarello is out with an upper-body injury and won’t play in their games against the Buffalo Sabres and St. Louis Blues this weekend.

Zuccarello, now 35, is second on the Wild in scoring and is again producing at over a point-per-game pace after doing so for the first time in his career last season. His 16 goals, 24 assists, and 40 points are all second on the team behind linemate Kirill Kaprizov, who is heading to the 2023 NHL All-Star Game in South Florida, as announced last night.

However, Mizutani also reports that the Wild will get gritty winger Brandon Duhaime back in the lineup, who hasn’t played since American Thanksgiving. It doesn’t appear to be a long-term absence for Zuccarello, who Mizutani says hopes to re-join the team for next week’s road trip to New York.

  • Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman is out tonight against the Winnipeg Jets, although it’s for a positive reason. Lightning beat writer Chris Krenn notes that Hedman has returned to Tampa and is expecting the birth of his family’s second child over the next few days. Mikhail Sergachev, who actually leads all Lightning blueliners in points, steps up to the top pairing in Hedman’s absence.
  • After playing the first half of the season in the AHL, Winnipeg Jets 2022 first-round pick Brad Lambert could head to junior hockey for the first time in North America. Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek expects Lambert to end up with the top-ranked Seattle Thunderbirds in the WHL “at some point” this weekend. Lambert has struggled somewhat in his post-draft season after seeing his stock fall heavily out of the top five, as he posted just one point in five games at the 2023 World Junior Championship and managed three points in 14 games with Winnipeg’s AHL affiliate, the Manitoba Moose.

Atlantic Notes: Senators Sale, Lightning, Krejci, Miller

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With it being announced yesterday that the Senators are initiating a process to examine selling the team, it’s expected that there will be several expressions of interest and there have been a handful of speculative possibilities so far for people that could be minority partners as part of a group of investors.  However, Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch notes (Twitter link) that the NHL’s preference is to find a single buyer that can own at least a majority of the team over a collection of shareholders.  Of course, that doesn’t mean that they’ll be able to find one but on top of finding someone that will commit to keeping the team in Ottawa, they have other preferences in terms of who they’d prefer as the next owner of the team.

More from the Atlantic:

  • A pair of key Lightning players are questionable to suit up tonight as team reporter Chris Krenn relays (Twitter link) that defenseman Victor Hedman and center Nick Paul are both listed as game-time decisions. Hedman has missed the last two games with an undisclosed injury while Paul played in Thursday’s loss to Carolina.
  • The Bruins will get a key part of their attack back tonight as ESPN’s Kristen Shilton relays (Twitter link) that center David Krejci will return to the lineup after missing the last three games due to an upper-body injury. It has been a strong return to the NHL for the 36-year-old as he’s averaging a point per game through his first eight contests while anchoring the second line which is the same role he had prior to him leaving to go play at home last season.
  • Still with Boston, following the Bruins’ decision to sign Mitchell Miller yesterday, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman was asked to weigh in. He told reporters including Peter Baugh of The Athletic (Twitter link) that the 20-year-old is not presently NHL-eligible and that there’s a possibility that Miller may never be ruled eligible to play at the top level.  Substack columnist Sean Shapiro then reached out (Twitter link) to the AHL for comment based on Bettman’s remarks with the league’s response being that President Scott Howson would have to determine his eligibility since he is under suspension in the NHL so it’s not a guarantee that he’ll be able to play there either.

Evening Notes: Hedman, Letang, Formenton

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The Tampa Bay Lightning are down a big man – literally and figuratively – as they take on Ottawa tonight. Defenseman Victor Hedman has an upper-body injury and is day-to-day, according to Lightning play-by-play commentator Dave Randorf. Hedman sustained the injury in a win Saturday against San Jose, leaving in the third period.

Hedman is vying for a seventh straight Norris Trophy nomination this season, and one of the best defensemen of his generation is off to a strong start again. His eight points in nine games are tied for third on the team with Brayden Point, and his 24:48 ice time average per game clears second place (Mikhail Sergachev) by an even two minutes. The Lightning have a tough schedule over the next few games, including games against Carolina and Edmonton, so a quick return from Hedman would be highly desirable.

  • Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Kris Letang is out for tonight’s game against Boston with an illness, as he didn’t skate in warmups. Chad Ruhwedel will draw in on the bottom pairing, while Jeff Petry will slide up alongside Brian Dumoulin in Letang’s absence. The 35-year-old, who signed a six-year extension with the team last offseason, is off to a slow start with four points in nine games and a -5 rating.
  • TSN’s Darren Dreger reported on today’s edition of Insider Trading that there are no real updates between the Ottawa Senators and forward Alex Formenton, who remains the only unsigned RFA in the league. The two parties now have just one month before the December 1 signing deadline, where Formenton cannot play in the NHL season if he doesn’t have a contract. Dreger notes a potential trade as an option for Formenton, and also floats the option of playing in Europe if a deal can’t be reached.

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