The Tampa Bay Lightning were dealt a huge blow when Victor Hedman (upper body) was knocked out of Thursday’s game against Dallas after taking a hit from Jamie Benn (see above video).
Despite feeling better, Lightning coach Jon Cooper said that Hedman won’t be in the lineup when the Bolts take on the Sabres on Saturday night.
Cooper said Hedman continues to feel better. While he's out tonight, he's day-to-day, didn't want to speculate on return date. #tblightning
— Joe Smith (@JoeSmithNHL) October 17, 2015
After today’s morning skate, Cooper didn’t want to shed any light on a possible return date for his number one defenseman.
“I don’t know, I’m not the doc,” Cooper said. “I get, is he playing, is he not, and I got, he’s not playing tonight. So that’s where I’m at.”
In Hedman’s absence, the Lightning will give Slate Koekkoek an opportunity to prove himself.
Koekkoek had an interesting way of describing his style of play:
Slater Koekkoek: "People always described me in (@PetesOHLhockey) as being an 'unleashed kind of stallion.' It's probably pretty accurate."
— Joe Smith (@JoeSmithNHL) October 17, 2015
The 21-year-old was Tampa Bay’s first round pick, 10th overall, in the 2010 draft. He’s only skated in three NHL games in his career but he did have five goals and 26 points in 72 games with AHL Syracuse last year.