Lightning’s Hedman returns to lineup; Kucherov, Vasilevskiy day-to-day
It’s one step forward and two steps back for the Tampa Bay Lightning.
While one of the Lightning’s long-term injuries is finally over with as defenseman Victor Hedman returns to the lineup for Saturday’s game against the New York Islanders, they’re losing two other key pieces in the short term, as winger Nikita Kucherov and goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy are out of the lineup on a day-to-day basis.
Jon Cooper tells us …
Hedman is “pretty eager to come back, and we're looking forward to it” — I would guess he plays tonight.
Johansson will be the #Bolts starting goaltender tonight.
Kucherov and Vasilevskiy are day to day.
“This will be a different lineup tonight…
Hedman missed the last 12 games with an undisclosed injury. All conversations at morning skate indicated that he would be back in the lineup, and with his activation off of injured reserve, that appears to be the case.
Hedman returns to the lineup on the top pair alongside J.J. Moser, as well as on the top power play and penalty kill units.
Hedman had a great start to the season before he was hurt, as even though he has no goals on the year, he has 12 assists in the 15 games he’s played.
Both Kucherov and Vasilevskiy will be out of the lineup for Saturday’s game, but it’s unclear what injuries they are dealing with.
Kucherov played all of Thursday’s 4-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins, but missed Friday’s practice for a maintenance day and appeared to be testing something during Saturday’s morning skate, so it’s likely something he sustained during Thursday’s game but played through. He’s been his usual self this season with 12 goals and 22 assists for 34 points in 25 games.
Vasilevskiy was supposed to start Thursday’s game, but ultimately Jonas Johansson was the starter for the game, likely due to the injury. Lightning head coach Jon Cooper initially believed Vasilevskiy would be ready for Saturday’s game, but that is no longer the case.
The Lightning currently sit in first place in the Atlantic Division with a 16-9-2 record. They’ll look to snap a two-game slump when they host the Islanders on Saturday at 7 p.m. EST.