Lightning captain Victor Hedman returns to injured reserve

Tampa Bay Lightning captain Victor Hedman returned to injured reserve on Thursday and will miss at least three games.

The veteran defenseman, who turns 35 next week, recently rejoined the lineup after missing four weeks and 12 games with an undisclosed injury.

Hedman exited during the first period of Tuesday's 6-1 victory at Montreal and did not return.

"It's tough to lose the big guy," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said after the win against the Canadiens. "He is such an important part of our team, so fingers crossed here."

Hedman has no goals and 12 assists in 18 games this season, the three-time All-Star Game participant is in his 17th campaign with Tampa Bay.

He has tallied 806 career points (171 goals, 635 assists), a plus-193 rating and 778 penalty minutes in 1,149 games with the Lightning, winning back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2020 and 2021.

Hedman joins teammates Andrei Vasilevskiy, Ryan McDonagh and Erik Cernak on IR. Out for at least seven days, he will miss the road games against the New Jersey Devils (Thursday) and New York Islanders (Saturday) and Monday's home date with the Florida Panthers.

--Field Level Media