Lightning lose Hedman, game vs. Stars

[October 16, 2015]  TAMPA -- The Tampa Bay Lightning took their first home loss of the season Thursday, 5-3 at the hands of the Dallas Stars, but they could have a bigger loss as defenseman Victor Hedman did not return after taking what looked to be a head injury against the boards on a retaliatory hit from Dallas in the second period.

"We're concerned for his well-being," teammate Brian Boyle said after the game. "The type of injury I assume it is, as a person you want him to be healthy. We're obviously going to miss him on the ice, but we want him to be OK."

The Stars saw a three-goal lead cut to one in a two-minute span of the third period, but center Jason Spezza's goal two minutes later helped Dallas pull out a 5-3 win at Amalie Arena.

"After they scored those two quick in the third ... we just kept going and Jason is pretty hot right now and got us the fifth goal, that made it easy," goalie Kari Lehtonen said.

Dallas (3-1-0) trailed early but scored four straight goals to take control for their first road win of the season, while the Lightning (3-2-0) saw goalie Ben Bishop give up five goals, matching the most he allowed since his first season with Tampa Bay in April 2013. He allowed five goals just once in the 2014-15 regular season.

The Lightning played the final period without Hedman, who left the game after he was hit by Stars left winger Jamie Benn in the second period. That hit set up a response from Tampa Bay defenseman Nikita Nesterov after a hit to Dallas left winger Curtis McKenzie that knocked him out of the game with a lower-body injury.

"I thought it was unfortunate, it was a pretty dirty hit on Mac there, and that kind of changed the tempo of the game," Spezza said. "It becomes more bad blood when something like that happens."

The Lightning threatened in the final period -- center Vladislav Namestnikov scored his first goal of the season with 12:54 remaining, and center Steven Stamkos scored his second goal of the night -- fourth of the season -- on a pass from left wing Jonathan Drouin with 11:16 left to cut the Dallas lead to 4-3. With the home crowd adding to Tampa Bay's momentum, Spezza stopped the rally with a wide goal past Bishop with 9:31 left, his fourth of the season.

After the game, Lightning coach Jon Cooper said he had talked to Hedman and he was "feeling OK," but he was hopeful to get him back soon.

"We'll see tomorrow -- we'll know better how he is tomorrow," said Cooper, saying he'll be under the league's concussion protocol. "He may be perfectly fine tomorrow. He might be. It's too early to speculate."

The Stars took a 4-1 lead in the second period, having rallied back after the Lightning had the first goal of the night, less than three minutes in.

Dallas extended its lead to 3-1 in the second period, with center Cody Eakin scoring his third goal of the season, set up by a strong pass from forward Mattias Janmark.

Shortly after Hedman was put into the boards in the second period, Tampa Bay retaliated with a hit from behind that saw Nesterov hit McKenzie.

Nesterov was assessed a five-minute major and game misconduct for hitting from behind, and the Stars converted with another power-play goal, making it 4-1 on defenseman Jason Demers' first goal of the season at 18:12.

Dallas grabbed a lead 2-1 late in the opening period on another power-play goal, this from Benn -- his third of the season -- with assists from Spezza and center Tyler Seguin. It was Seguin, who tied the game with 11:02 left in the first, scoring his first goal of the season with a rebound off a long shot by defenseman Jyrki Jokipakka.

Tampa Bay jumped ahead early, with Stamkos scoring his third goal of the season just 2:24 into the game on an assist from behind the net by Drouin, his fourth of the season.

NOTES: Lightning C Alex Killorn is day-to-day with an upper-body injury, and he did not dress for Thursday night's game. Killorn has two assists in Tampa Bay's first four games. ... The Lightning did get the season debut of C Cedric Paquette, who missed the first four games after taking a puck on a leg in his preseason debut against Dallas. D Andrej Sustr was a healthy scratch for Tampa Bay. ... Dallas had three healthy scratches, RW Valeri Nichushkin, D Patrik Nemeth and D Jamie Oleksiak. ... The Lightning honored their captain, C Steven Stamkos, before the game for reaching 500 career points while the team was on a recent two-game road swing. ... New Dallas LW Patrick Sharp faced the Lightning in last year's Stanley Cup finals when he was with the Blackhawks. He had a goal and two assists in the six-game series.

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