Hedman could miss Game 1 for Lightning against Blue Jackets

Victor Hedman was injured for the Tampa Bay Lightning in their final game of the round-robin portion of the Stanley Cup Qualifiers on Saturday, and now they could be without their top defenseman and captain Steven Stamkos when the Stanley Cup Playoffs begin.

"We don't know how long this is going to be, but when your perennial Norris Trophy finalist is out, that creates a hole," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "We've dealt with injuries before, our captain's out, he's been out a long time. It's frustrating. But you have to circle the wagons and prepare ..."

Hedman was injured at 9:06 of the first period in the 4-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers when his right ankle appeared to get twisted as he turned around to back skate in the defensive zone. He stayed down on the ice for a couple of seconds and skated gingerly before icing the puck and heading to locker room.

The Lightning were already without Stamkos, who did not play in any of their round-robin games because of a lower-body injury the forward aggravated before training camp.

Because of the loss, Tampa Bay will be the No. 2 seed in the playoffs and play either the Columbus Blue Jackets in the Eastern Conference First Round at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, the East hub city. Game 1 is Tuesday (3 p.m. ET; NBCSN, SN, TVAS).

Cooper said Friday there would be no further updates on Stamkos, nor his availability for the playoffs, until he's ready to play. Stamkos was second on the Lightning with 29 goals and 66 points in 57 games this season (forward Nikita Kucherov led Tampa Bay with 33 goals and 85 points).

Hedman, who is a finalist for the Norris Trophy, given to the player voted the NHL's best defenseman, for a fourth straight season, scored 55 points (11 goals, 44 assists) in 66 games.

"He's pretty much the cornerstone of our back end," Lightning defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk said of Hedman. "Losing him early, obviously the first thought is hopefully it's nothing too serious. But you know at that point that you have to manage the game a little bit as a [defense] corps. You can't take too many chances, make sure you're pacing it out. At that time of the game, too, they had a lot of pressure on us. It's just getting in the rhythm of the game. In a way, you get to play and feel the game a little more, you get put in situations you normally wouldn't be in. So we rolled with it, and obviously going forward, we'll have to see what happens."

In Hedman's absence, defenseman Ryan McDonagh led the Lightning with 26:19 of ice time.

"You hate to see any of your teammates have to leave a game," McDonagh said. "Obviously, we know the significance and the role he plays on our team. We don't know the status right now, how he's feeling or whatnot, but we have to continue on here, continue as a group and have that next-man-up mentality until he gets back."