The Battle of Florida was intense as Victor Hedman entered the ice after having just recovered from an injury. Coach Jon Cooper’s Tampa Bay Lightning managed to bury the Florida Panthers in a 6-1 victory. While everyone relished how much of a trampling they gave the Matthew Tkachuk-led squad, the 35-year-old defenseman expressed how much pride he has for how the team helped him get back from his injury.
Tampa Bay uplifts their veteran
Hedman started off the scoring for the Lightning. He helped Brandon Hagel find the back of the net at the 2:08 mark of the first period. As the game went on, the Tampa Bay defenseman looked like he did not go through an injury at all. Coach Cooper entrusted him to play 25 shifts in 17:52 minutes and he shined every time.
By the end of it all, Hedman was just happy that he got back in form. The Lightning veteran got real about his feelings after the game, via Corey Long of NHL.com.
“You can guess how it feels in this room confidence-wise. Guys are coming back from injuries, we lose guys to injuries, we pick up each other and it’s next-man-up mentality. It’s been impressive to watch,” he declared.
Notably, Hedman has been out of the Lightning rotation since December. This is because he had to undergo elbow surgery. It also meant that Coach Cooper did not have his captain on the ice for nearly two months. So, the feeling of being able to come back felt amazing for the Swedish veteran.
He will undoubtedly be shining more in the next few weeks in the Milano Cortina Olympics for Team Sweden. More over, the new found confidence that he gained will likely carry over when the Lightning resume their NHL regular season schedule against the Toronto Maple Leafs on February 25.
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