TAMPA, FL. – The Lightning’s resilience never ceases to impress.
Their three-game trip through the Golden State, which resumes Friday night (10:00, Bally) in Anaheim, opened in L.A. on Tuesday night with the services of only four defensemen.
The fact the quartet of blueliners comprised of Victor Hedman, Ryan McDonagh, Mikhail Sergachev, and Cal Foote made the situation far less daunting than might have otherwise been the case.
Heck, Hedman thought it was fun. The perennial Norris Trophy contender said following the game that he was excited for the challenge to the point he had trouble taking an afternoon nap.
Alas, Hedman’s play resulted in much restlessness among the Kings on a night when he had his second two-goal game of the season in a 6-4 win. The 31-year-old Swede added an assist while logging an eye-opening, but certainly not unexpected, 32:18.
McDonagh was on the ice for 29:18, Sergachev 27:57, and Foote 25:01.
“You can look at it two ways,” said Hedman, who was paired with Foote, said after the game. “You can feel sorry for yourself, or you can look at it as an opportunity. That’s how we approached it today. We had a lot of good help from the forwards and just tried to keep it as simple as possible.”
Hedman’s three points gave him 43, which is tops among league defensemen. Not that anything he does, or has done during his impressive career, surprises anybody anymore. Certainly not his coach.
“There are guys that rise to the challenge and guys that don’t,” said Jon Cooper, whose team has won six of seven and is 10-1-2 against the Western Conference, including having won all six games against teams from the Pacific Division. “I have been here a long time now with him and, whether it was a game like (Tuesday) night or the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs, he just finds a way to rise to the occasion. It was impressive, but it was impressive by all of them.”
Injuries and being maxed out of cap space resulted in a shorthanded blue line. Cooper said the Lightning will have more than four defensemen playing against the Ducks, though as of Friday morning it was not known who would be added to the unit.
The Lightning have defensemen Andrei Sustr and Fredrik Claesson, who was recalled up from Syracuse on Thursday, among those on the taxi squad. Players can only be activated from the taxi squad to fill vacancies resulting from players in Covid protocol.
There is an exception, though. The league’s Roster Emergency Exception dictates players with a cap hit of no more than $1 million, which is the case with Sustr and Claesson, can be summoned from the taxi squad under circumstances such as those the Lightning face. (Forwards Daniel Walcott, who has played defense, and Charles Hudon are also on the taxi squad and would meet the league’s REE criteria.)
Defensemen Jan Rutta (lower body, day-to-day), Erik Cernak (lower body, day-to-day) and Zach Bogosian (lower body, two to three weeks) missed the game in L.A. and the status of Rutta and Cernak was uncertain for Anaheim. Forward Ondrej Palat, who missed Tuesday’s game, is doubtful for Friday night, according to Cooper.
Having a couple of days off and remaining in Southern California following the win over the Kings was a good thing, especially for the four defensemen who have surely benefitted from the breather. No matter what the lineup will look like in Anaheim, one thing is certain and that is the Lightning will be up to whatever challenge they may face.
The Lightning had road games at Colorado (Dec. 18), Arizona (Dec. 23), and New Jersey (Jan. 10) postponed due to Covid issues with those teams. The league announced Wednesday that the makeup dates will be Feb. 10 at Colorado, Feb. 11 at Arizona, and Feb. 15 at New Jersey.
Also, games at the Islanders (April 28) and Columbus (April 29) have been flip-flopped. That was done to accommodate the Isles’ revised schedule, which has them hosting Washington on April 28.
Visit Tampafp.com for Politics, Tampa Area Local News, Sports, and National Headlines. Support journalism by clicking here to our GoFundMe or sign up for our free newsletter by clicking here.
Android Users, Click Here To Download The Free Press App And Never Miss A Story. It’s Free And Coming To Apple Users Soon