Hedman injured in Bolts loss to Flyers

by Gary Shelton on August 9, 2020

in general

Hedman injured in Lightning loss./CHUCK MULLER

Sunday, 4 a.m.

Once you have decided that they were talented enough to win the big trophy -- and you determined that years ago -- a new set of questions were attached to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Were they tough enough? Were they balanced enough? Were they big enough? Where they nasty enough? Were they solid enough on defense?

And now there is this:

Are they healthy enough?





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The Lightning lost more than a hockey game Saturday night in a 4-1 defeat at the hands of the Philadelphia Flyers. They lost star defenseman Victor Hedman to injury. With captain Steven Stankos also missing because of an injury, you have to wonder about the health of the Lightning as they enter the first round of the Stanlely Cup Playoffs.

They will play the winner of the Columbus-Toronto next week.

"Obviously, he’s pretty much the cornerstone of our back end," said the Bolts' Kevin Shattenkirk. "Hopefully it’s nothing too serious."

Said Ryan McDonaugh: "We know the significance and the role that Heddy plays on our team. We don’t know his status, but we have to continue as a group and have the next man up mentality until he gets back. You know the importance he plays for our team." 

The Lightning were jumped in the first period -- being outshot 20 to six -- an fell behind 2-0. In their first two games, the Bolts had let a 2-0 lead slip away.

The Flyers did not. They gave up only one goal -- a power play to Tyler Johnson -- and won.

“It’s not just Hedman,"said Lightning coach Jon Cooper. "It’s a pair, him and Jan Rutta.  Neither one was available tonight. That’s a big part of our d-corps,

"It’s hard when you lose teammates. We don’t know how long this is going to be. When your perennial Norris Trophy finalist is out, that creates a hole. We’ve dealt with injuries before. Our captain is out. He's been out for a long time. It’s frustrating. We feel like we’re going in the right direction. To lose some of the star power we have... "

In the (official) first round of the playoffs, the Lightning will face Columbus (which beat Toronto Sunday). It's a series between the Lightning and the team the outsted them in four straight games a year ago. The game will be played Tuesday at 3 p.m. in Toronto.

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