Bolts to dress six defensemen Friday versus Anaheim

The Tampa Bay Lightning are still dealing with injuries on their blue line, but at least the Bolts will have six defensemen in the lineup when they take on the Anaheim Ducks tonight at Honda Center as they continue their three-game California swing.
After defeating the Los Angeles Kings 6-4 on Tuesday with just four healthy defensemen available and able to play due to salary cap constraints, the Lightning will bring Andrej Sustr and Fredrik Claesson into their lineup against the Ducks. Sustr has been skating with Tampa Bay's taxi squad since December 27. Claesson was recalled Thursday from the Bolts' American Hockey League affiliate in Syracuse.
Sustr and Claesson will play versus Anaheim because Erik Cernak and Jan Rutta remain out with lower-body injuries. Additionally, Zach Bogosian is in the first week of a lower-body injury that will force him to miss two to three weeks.

With only four defensemen available against the Kings, Victor Hedman logged 32:18 time on ice, a regular season career high for a game ending in regulation, notched two goals to record the ninth multi-goal game of his career, passing Dan Boyle (8) for the most all-time by a Lightning defenseman, added an assist and finished plus-two.
Hedman said he was "excited" about playing shorthanded against the Kings, describing it as a "challenge" he looked forward to. An 82-game regular season can get monotonous, Hedman explained, so the unusual circumstances presented a unique opportunity. He responded with maybe his best game of the season.

Hedman currently leads all NHL defensemen for scoring with 43 points in 41 games.
"He's a horse," said Lightning forward Corey Perry two days after Hedman's remarkable feat. "You go into a game playing with four defensemen and knowing you're playing with four defensemen and you play however many minutes it was, three points, a couple goals, what else can you ask for? That's a leader. That's a guy that understands he's going to put the team on his back and go out and do it. He did that the other night. That's why he's won and is up for a Norris (Trophy) every single year. He just keeps coming, and it's fun to watch."
Ryan McDonagh skated 29:18 in the win over Los Angeles, his highest time on ice since joining the Lightning. He tallied an assist and was plus-three.
McDonagh admitted after the game he was "a little nervous" when he found out the Lightning would be shorthanded, and he had good reason to be. That game was just his second since returning from an injury that sidelined him three games.
"Was a first time for me," McDonagh said of playing with only four defensemen. "You need a total team effort, guys playing well with the puck and without it."
Additionally, Mikhail Sergachev logged 27:57, the second highest ice time of his career, and notched an assist, and Cal Foote played a career-high 25:01, his first time this season over 20 minutes.

The Lightning will have to play without Ondrej Palat for a fourth-consecutive contest when they take on the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center Friday night. Bolts head coach Jon Cooper called Palat "doubtful" to play following the teams' practice in Southern California on Thursday but said Friday he wouldn't be able to go.
Without Palat in the lineup, the Lightning will turn to Corey Perry to fill his spot on the top line alongside Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov. Perry will be playing against Anaheim at Honda Center for the first time in his career after spending 14 seasons and playing 988 regular season games with the Ducks from 2005 to 2019.
Perry returned to Anaheim and was honored by the Ducks on January 9, 2020 while a member of the Dallas Stars but wasn't able to play in that contest due to suspension.
"It was a special time here," Perry said during a media availability in Anaheim on Thursday. "This is where I grew up coming out here at 20 years old and being part of this organization, the community for 14 years, it's special. I'll always say this was home. I don't know how it's going to feel when I go out there. You see faces on the other side that you're still very close with and still talk to and communicate with. They're like brothers some of them over there. It's probably going to be emotional, but once the puck drops, it's hockey, it's game on."