The Tampa Bay Lightning lost top defenseman and captain Victor Hedman to injury during Thurdsay night’s wild 6-5 victory over the Buffalo Sabres at Amalie Arena; he managed to play less than three total minutes in the first period, and did not return.
Hedman appeared to tweak something after battling for a loose puck behind the net; replays show him lifting his leg up as he skated back toward the bench.
Seemed like an innocuous play, but Victor Hedman lifts his left leg at the end of this shift and has not returned. pic.twitter.com/gqHnodNxSJ
— Evan Closky (@ECloskyWTSP) March 7, 2025
Following the game, head coach Jon Cooper’s update on Hedman’s condition wasn’t the most encouraging, via X.
“We’ll see tomorrow,” Cooper said. “It was tough for us to lose him, well, it is tough to lose him anytime but you lose him 10 minutes into the game so that put a little stress on us back there. Of course, it happens the game we go 12 and 6 but the boys weathered through it and, hopefully, I don’t know. We’ll see about Saturday.”
The Lightning will host the Boston Bruins on Saturday afternoon at Amalie Arena; puck drop is scheduled for 3:00 PM EST.
The Lightning don’t have long to consider their options if Victor Hedman is injured
The NHL Trade Deadline is less than 24 hours away, falling on Friday afternoon at 3:00 PM EST. If Hedman has suffered a significant injury, the Lightning will need to act fast to replace him.
But thanks to the inconvenient timing of the injury, they’ll have very little time to not only get the full scope of Hedman’s healthy but also to assess their options in terms of a potential replacement in their lineup.
Hedman is not only the Lightning captain but also plays the most minutes of any defenseman and has assumed the top leadership role that was vacated with the departure of former captain Steven Stamkos to Nashville this past offseason.
Hedman, who was named the successor of Stamkos before the season began, has played in 60 games so far in 2024-25 and has scored 11 goals with 39 assists. He has 167 goals and 611 assists in 1,111 career games – all in a Lightning uniform.
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