The Tampa Bay Lightning lost one of the their most important players early in Saturday night's win over the Vancouver Canucks. Defenseman Victor Hedman left the game in the second period with a hand injury. More evaluation revealed that Hedman suffered a hand fracture, and will miss the next four-to-six weeks, according to Erik Erlendsson of the Tampa Tribune.
Hedman will undergo surgery tomorrow. This will be an irrefutably enormous loss for the Lightning. Hedman is tremendously gifted on defense, and his passing ability and huge shot from the point have made him a lethal offensive threat. It took a few years, but the 6-foot-6 defenseman from Sweeden has really come into his own, and has asserted himself among the best d-men in the game.
"We're going to test our depth," Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said. "It just puts a little more pressure on the (defensive) core." The other half of Tampa Bay's top defensive pairing, Anton Stralman, echoed Cooper's sentiments: "We have to stick together as a team," Stralman said. "Someone else has to take a little bit more responsibility. We have some vertean guys on this team. We're going to figure it out."
It will be no easy task. There hasn't been too many defensemen in hockey that have played better than Hedman since the start of the 2013-2014 season. In his absence, the aforementioned Stralman, as well as Jason Garrison and Matt Carle must step up and provide that missing stability on the defensive side.
Hedman, 23, had been stupendous through the first five games of the season, posting three goals, four assists, and a +/- of 2. His seven points is curently tied for the league lead among defenseman. It will be critical for the playoff-hopeful Lightning to get their top defenseman back healthy as they attempt to make serious noise in the Eastern Conference.