Tampa Bay Lightning News

Hedman left the Lightning's game Saturday vs. Seattle after just 13:40 TOI due to an undisclosed injury and will be a game-time decision Tuesday vs. Vancouver. The 32-year-old towering defenseman is back to his Norris Trophy form this season, with five goals, 22 assists, 55 SOG, 22 PIMs and -5 plus/minus in 29 games played.

Johansson will start the tail-end of Tampa Bay's back-to-back after Andrei Vasilevskiy picked up the 3-1 win over the Penguins on Wednesday. It's Johansson's first start since November 28th, when he surrendered three goals on 27 shots enroute to a 3-1 defeat at the hands of the Coyotes. The 28-year-old netminder owns a .892 SV% and a 8-5-5 record on the season. He'll have his hands full on Thursday facing a Predators team fresh off back-to-back victories.

We caught a glimpse of the Vasilevskiy of old in his previous start as he shut out the Dallas Stars in a 25 save effort for the sixth time in his career, and he will re-take the crease Wednesday vs. Pittsburgh. The 29-year-old superstar netminder has struggled with his return from back surgery so far this season as he is 2-3-0 with a 3.03 GAA and .887 SV%. He faces the heavy shooting Pittsburgh Penguins, who are on a two-game losing streak but are third in the NHL in shots per game (33.5).

We caught a glimpse of Vasilevskiy of old in his previous start as he shut out the Dallas Stars in a 25 save effort for the sixth time in his career and we re-take the crease Wednesday vs. Pittsburgh. The 29-year-old superstar netminder has struggled with his return from back surgery so far this season as he is 2-3-0 with a 3.03 GAA and .887 SV%. He faces the heavy shooting Pittsburgh Penguins, who are on a two-game losing streak but are third in the NHL in shots per game (33.5).

Vasilevskiy struggled for a third-straight loss in his previous start after allowing six goals on 25 shots (.760 SV%) in a road matchup vs. Dallas but will get the nod again Monday for a redemption match against the Stars. The 29-year-old came back from a long-term injury nearly two weeks ago and has struggled to regain his usual dominant form so far with his 1-3-0 record, 3.87 GAA and .859 SV%. He will take on the Dallas Stars, who will be looking to repeat their dominant 8-1 victory over Tampa last game and are sixth in the NHL in goals per game (3.55).

Perry's saga as a member of the Chicago Blackhawks is officially over after an unceremonious contract termination. In a statement released by the team, Perry engaged in "unacceptable conduct" that violated his contract and team standards. Perry was amid a somewhat resurgent start to the season, scoring nine points (4G / 5A) in 16 games.

After a somewhat resurgent start to the season, scoring nine points (4G / 5A) in 16 games, Perry has been placed on unconditional waivers by the Blackhawks to terminate his contract. In a statement released by the team, Perry engaged in "unacceptable conduct" that violated his contract and team standards. Perry was a healthy scratch in the last three games for the Blackhawks as this situation was unfolding.

Johansson has been a workhorse to start the season and will tie Alexandar Georgiev for the league lead with his 18th start on Tuesday. That said, Johansson's workload is about to take a major decline as the Tampa Bay Lightning welcomed back All-Star goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy last week. Apart from back-to-backs and the occasional rest for Vasilevskiy, Johansson is unlikely to see much playing time moving forward. Johansson helped secure at least a point for his team in his last four games (3-0-1) but allowed 13 goals on 116 shots in that span (.888 SV%). Even so, Tampa Bay is a -116 road favourite against an Arizona Coyotes team that has lost three of their last four (1-3-0).

Vasilevskiy made his season debut on Friday and did not seem to miss a step, saving 22 of 24 shots (.917 SV%) in an 8-2 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes and will likely start again on Monday against the Colorado Avalanche. Tampa Bay's Monday night matchup is the front end of a back-to-back, and Jonas Johansson has already been confirmed for Tuesday, but back-to-backs aside, Vasilesvkiy should see a heavy workload the rest of the way. Vasilevskiy and the Lightning are +116 road underdogs against an Avalanche team that could be without Nathan MacKinnon (illness).

Mitchell will be a healthy scratch on Monday, allowing Kevin Shattenkirk, who has not played since November 22nd, to draw back into the lineup. Mitchell has played 10 games with the Bruins this season, tallying two points (0G / 2A), 10 shots, and 10 blocks while averaging 15:02 time-on-ice.

Girgensons left the Sabres' game Friday vs. Pittsburgh after just 6:35 due to a lower-body injury and was placed on the injured reserve Saturday with expectations he is out week-to-week. The 29-year-old left-winger had two goals, 27 SOG, seven PIMs and a -3 plus/minus in 20 games played prior to his injury.

The Blackhawks have yet to say why Perry isn't with the team but that it was a team decision, not Perry's decision. The 38-year-old signed a one-year, $4 million contract in the offseason and had been enjoying a decent start to the season with four goals, five assists, 26 SOG, 12 PIMs and a -5 plus/minus in 16 games played.

Girgensons played just 6:35 TOI before leaving Friday's game vs. the Penguins. The Sabres already had to play with 11 forwards and seven defensemen last night, so expect them to make some call-ups if Girgensons and Jordan Greenway are unavailable.