Lightning's Hedman, Kucherov will not play vs. Canadiens

Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman (upper body) and forward Nikita Kucherov (body maintenance) will not play against the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday, Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Analysis:

It took the Bolts until game day to rule out Hedman, so it doesn't appear that his ailment is all that serious. Now, the beast of a defender can focus on getting healthy for the first round of the quarterfinals -- it's been determined that Tampa Bay will square off against the Red Wings in the opening round.

Kucherov's regular-season campaign comes to a close with 66 points (30 goals, 36 assists) in 77 games, proving that his breakout campaign from 2014-15 was no fluke. He's the real deal, and there should be plenty more where that come from as the Kucherov is just 22 years old. He can raise the bar even higher if he can continue the lofty production in the playoffs, despite the absence of superstar Steven Stamkos (upper body), as the two skaters had been on the same scoring line in the past.