Tampa Bay Lightning captain Victor Hedman has been placed on injured reserve ahead of Thursday’s matchup against the New Jersey Devils [https://www.nhl.com/devils/]. The veteran defenseman left Tuesday’s game in Montreal [https://www.nhl.com/canadiens/] after logging just 6:14 of ice time in the first period. “It’s a little bit of a concern. We’ll get him re-evaluated here,” Jon Cooper said Tuesday [https://www.nhl.com/lightning/video/jon-cooper-postgame-at-montreal-canadiens-6386263932112]. “We still have a couple games on this road trip, but it’s tough to lose the big guy. He’s such an important part of our team, so fingers crossed here.” © Rob Gray-Imagn Images [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/e4c5f2b7-806b-4587-8d5a-7714c4721e98.jpeg] © Rob Gray-Imagn Images Under league rules, Hedman must sit out a minimum of seven days from the day following the game in which he was injured. As a result, he will miss Thursday’s game in New Jersey, Saturday’s matchup withe Islanders, and Monday’s home game against the Panthers. Hedman was playing in just his third game back from a Nov. 8 injury that placed him on long-term injured reserve. It’s unclear whether his latest setback is related to the same injury. In a corresponding move, the Lightning recalled defenseman Declan Carlile from the Syracuse Crunch. The 25-year-old has appeared in nine games for Tampa Bay this season, notching one goal and a plus-1 rating while averaging 12:53 of ice time. The Lightning continue to navigate a challenging stretch of injuries. Defensemen Ryan McDonagh and Erik Cernak, along with goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy, all remain on injured reserve. The team did receive a boost earlier in the week with the return of Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov.
