Victor Hedman returned to practice Wednesday after he missed a 5-2 win against the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday with an upper-body injury.
The defenseman is day to day after he was hurt in the second period of a 6-0 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday after a check by Hurricanes forward Andrei Svechnikov.
"You want him out here," Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said of Hedman returning to the ice.
Hedman is averaging 23:59 in ice time per game, which leads the Lightning. He is second among Tampa Bay defensemen with 42 points (six goals, 36 assists) in 60 games.
Cooper said that having depth on defense will be important as the postseason gets close. The Lightning recently recalled Darren Raddysh from Syracuse of the American Hockey League and could recall defenseman
Philippe Myers
before the season ends.
"That's why they're here and it's that time of the year where, you know, bodies start breaking down, what happens with all the teams," Cooper said. "Part of the moves made at the [NHL Trade] deadline were to give us an opportunity to be able to call guys up.
"So, we'll see what the status is on 'Heddy' later today but it's why you need everybody here."
The Lightning (38-21-5) are third in the Atlantic Division, five points behind the second-place Toronto Maple Leafs, and will host the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; BSSUN, ATTSN-RM, ESPN+, SN NOW). -- Corey Long