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Quick Strikes: Victor Hedman, Ondrej Palat injured during Lightning game vs. Golden Knights

Hedman injury is not long term, thankfully.

The Headline

Last night, the Tampa Bay Lightning celebrated their first victory in Las Vegas with a 3-2 win. The win was costly, however. Most obviously, Victor Hedman was injured during the second period by getting pushed into the boards by Ryan Reaves. He did not come back to play. [Game recap from Raw Charge]

Joe Smith later reported that Hedman’s injury is not long term, although he will be out vs. the Coyotes.

Four shots and several turnovers later the Lightning earned a power play after Ryan Reaves horse collared Gourde in the offensive zone. That was the second big hit Reaves had in 30 seconds, his first was a high hit that sent Victor Hedman spinning awkwardly into the boards. The big Swede left the ice immediately and didn’t return to the game.

Here is the recap from our worthy foes at Knights on Ice. [KOI]

The Golden Knights splurged this offseason in signing free agent Paul Stastny and acquiring winger Max Pacioretty to fill out what should have been one of the best second lines in the league. Instead, Stastny only appeared in three games before injuring himself, and he may be out until Christmas time.

Meanwhile, Pacioretty logged just 1:47 of ice time today before he took an elbow to the head from Lightning defenseman Braydon Coburn early in the first period.

Less obvious to us viewers but also reported, Ondrej Palat disappeared for the last half of the third period. He was injured blocking a shot, per Joe.

We’ll be keeping an eye out for health updates as the day goes on.

The Bolts

On a happier note, last night’s costly victory also marked a milestone for Vasy:

And for the franchise:

And there were some extremely pretty moments in last night’s game:

One year after getting dropped by Coyotes, Lightning G Louis Domingue returns to Arizona [The Athletic, paid content]

“Louis has really good hockey IQ,” Jean said. “He’s able to grab the information that comes to him and make sense of it really quickly. Elite goalies usually have that ability, and Louis has it. He’s a guy that uses his body well. When he gets in a shooting lane, he doesn’t get beat on straight shots very often. His coverage is really good.

Geo writes that the Lightning’s third line needs to start scoring some goals [Raw Charge]

That suggests we have a certain amount of bad luck going for the third line here. Their PDO (a combination of on-ice shooting percentage and save percentage) is a paltry 89.29. PDO generally measures luck with a 100 being average. A PDO that far off of 100 usually means there will be a turnaround at some point. Their shooting percentage has obviously been worse than any of the lines with a goose egg. But the save percentage behind them is only better than the .800 SV% that the fourth line has gotten.

The Prospects

Something to watch out for. How will Hedman’s injury impact the Syracuse Crunch?

Speaking of injuries: Gabriel Dumont’s injury leaves a huge void in Crunch line-up [Raw Charge]

The Quebec native is their number one center, their number one penalty killer and the cornerstone of their power play. Due to that lower-body injury, he is also going to be missing for the next four-to-six weeks. At best he misses 10-15 games, at worst the injury lingers and the initial four-to-six weeks turns into three-to-four months. Either way, this leaves a huge hole for the team to fill.

The Game

Sticks and Sounds: A Love Letter to Hockey on the Radio [Jackets Cannon]

The radio gives a better feel for the rhythm of the action. The ambient noise of skates and sticks and shouts are more pronounced with the visuals taken away. The description can flow along with the movement on something like a power play, with McElligott chaining last names together in rapid fire succession as the puck tic-tac-toes its way through the zone.

Ziegler, former NHL president, dies at 84 [NHL.com]

Ziegler stepped down as president in June 1992. Gary Bettman became the NHL’s first commissioner on Feb. 1, 1993.

After leaving the NHL, Ziegler worked at a Detroit law firm and served as an alternate governor for the Chicago Blackhawks.

”We mourn the passing of John Ziegler,” Blackhawks chairman Rocky Wirtz said. “His positive imprint on the game of hockey cannot ever be overstated.

Nothing can beat Zdeno Chara in the bunny suit, but at least there’s this:

So this is interesting. Also, I’m sure the fact that there’s a team in Las Vegas has NOTHING to do with it:

So. Cool.

We’ll be back at you a little later today with the game preview vs. the Arizona Coyotes, in which Louis Domingue will make his homecoming. Here’s hoping a tired and depleted Tampa Bay Lightning can fend off the Coyotes and make Domingue’s victory lap complete.

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