Hedman has two goals, assist for Lightning in victory against Kings

LOS ANGELES -- Victor Hedman had two goals and an assist in 32:37 of ice time, and the depleted Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Los Angeles Kings 6-4 at Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday.

"He was a force out there like he usually is," Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh said. "He just thrives when he has to do more."
With defensemen Jan Rutta and Erik Cernak not available because of injury, the Lightning played with 12 forwards and four defensemen. Cernak (lower body) missed his second straight game. Rutta's injury is undisclosed.
A third Lightning defenseman, Zach Bogosian, will miss 2-3 weeks after sustaining a lower-body injury in a 3-1 win against the Dallas Stars on Saturday.
"I'm not going to lie, I had trouble napping because I was excited," Hedman said. "It was something new. You knew you were going to be out there every other shift. In an 82-game season you need those challenges. It was fun to see what you could do with only four guys."

Nikita Kucherov, Steven Stamkos and Mathieu Joseph each had a goal and an assist, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 32 saves for the Lightning (27-9-5), who won their fourth straight game.
Cal Petersen allowed five goals on 24 shots for the Kings (20-15-5), who were swept in back-to-back games following a 6-2 defeat at the San Jose Sharks on Monday.
"That's kind of what we expected was going to happen, a kind of back-and-forth kind of game," Kings forward Alex Iafallo said. "But when that happens, you just got to kind of pack it in and take your chances and get better chances. But we'll have to regroup, and we'll be fine."
Hedman gave Tampa Bay a 4-3 lead at 10:43 of the third period on a wrist shot from the high slot. He leads all NHL defensemen with 43 points (nine goals, 34 assists).
"I think he's one of the top five players in the National Hockey League, not just tonight but every night I turn on the TV," Kings coach Todd McLellan said. "Six-foot-six and play like that, and he had a huge impact on the game. Played the most minutes of anybody and played the best out of everybody, so he was good."
It was Hedman's ninth multigoal game, passing Dan Boyle for most by a Lightning defenseman.
Joseph made it 5-3 at 15:20 with a sharp-angle shot on a one-timer from McDonagh and Stamkos scored into an empty net at 17:18 to make it 6-3.
Phillip Danault scored at 19:07 for the 6-4 final.
Hedman scored on a breakaway with a wrist shot in the slot to put the Lightning up 1-0 at 13:17 of the first period. He has seven points (two goals, five assists) during a four-game point streak.
"We want to try and grab the lead, especially in these circumstances," McDonagh said. "We were playing a little conservative. He got a bouncing puck and was able to go on the breakaway."

Blake Lizotte tied it 1-1 at 8:52 of the second period. He stole the puck from Brayden Point in the corner and beat Vasilevskiy with a close-range shot into the top netting.
Iafallo scored his first NHL shorthanded goal on a wrist shot from the high slot to give the Kings a 2-1 lead at 11:44, but Kucherov tied it 2-2 on a power play on a slap shot in the right circle on a one-timer from Hedman at 13:03.
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare left Petersen sprawled on the ice with a deke and scored shorthanded on a backhand to put Tampa Bay ahead 3-2 at 14:40.
"You're playing the Stanley Cup champs, you give them three goals like that, you're not winning. It doesn't matter what happens with goals four, five and six," McLellan said.
The Kings tied it 3-3 at 16:06 of the second period when Arthur Kaliyev's pass from the left circle redirected up off Hedman's stick and in.
NOTES: It was the first NHL game where both teams had a power-play and shorthanded goal in the same period since the Boston Bruins and St. Louis Blues did so in the first period on Dec. 21, 2008. … Kucherov has nine points (four goals, five assists) during a four-game point streak. … Point had an assist to extend his point streak to seven games (five goals, four assists). … Stamkos has seven points (three goals, four assists) during a four-game point streak. … Kings forward Viktor Arvidsson had an assist to extend his point streak to five games (one goal, four assists). … Kings forward Dustin Brown played his 1,269th NHL game to tie Brett Hull for seventh among United States-born players. … The Lightning have won 10 straight against the Kings since a 3-1 loss Dec. 6, 2015. That ties their longest active winning streak against one opponent (Philadelphia Flyers).