Boucher big fan of Hedman's 'monster' game

TAMPA After Victor Hedman's first game back from injury, Lightning head coach Guy Boucher described the young defenseman's game as "very good.''

After Hedman's second game, Boucher called him "terrific''

So when the 21-year-old blue liner put in another strong effort in Saturday's 6-3 victory, what way did Boucher use to describe Hedman, who had an assist, five shots on goals, five blocked shots, three hits and was a plus-two?

"I was going to use the word machine, but I like the word monster, absolutely,'' Boucher said. "He had a monster game, blocking shots, hitting guys, first on puck, separating players from the puck and taking the puck and skating up with it, getting all kinds of scoring opportunities. He's turning into a monster, and I love it.''

Hedman has shown no effects from the concussion he suffered on Dec. 27 which kept him out for 13 games, looking as comfortable as he has at any point in his short career with the Lightning.

"When you make some plays and you feel good out there, you want to keep it going and build on that,'' Hedman said. "But as long as the team is winning, you are happy and if you feel you are contributing in certain ways, you gain some confidence, as well. So I feel confident that I am making plays offensively and still feel confident from playing well in the defensive zone.''

Model of Consistency

Captain Vinny Lecavalier registered his 20th goal of the season on Saturday, marking the 12th consecutive season in which he has reached the 20-goal mark, something that was never accomplished by the likes of Mario Lemieux or current Tampa Bay general manager Steve Yzerman.

"I'm happy, but there are still 30 games left and I want to finish strong,'' Lecavalier said. "These past few weeks have been going good and I just want to keep it going strong.''

Shannon moves up

Like Hedman, RW Ryan Shannon has returned from injury with some strong play after missing 14 games with a knee strain.

Shannon was on top of his game well enough during Saturday's game that he moved up from a fourth-line spot to work most of the game with Lecavalier and Marty St. Louis, which helped lead to Shannon picking up a pair of assists for his second multi-point game of the season.

"I'm just trying to get some momentum and build my game up,'' Shannon said. "The first game back I tried to slow the game down a little bit, it was a little of a deer-in-the-headlights, but my body felt good and I wanted to test my knee. My second game, I felt better and got some more ice time as the game went on. And (Saturday) I felt like I could influence the outcome of the game a little bit.''

Nuts and Bolts

One game after being a healthy scratch, rookie LW Brett Connolly finished with 7:10 of ice time, only the second time he's earned at least seven minutes since Jan. 15. … One by-product of a comfortable margin of victory, only three players played over 20 minutes on Saturday – Hedman (23:41), Eric Brewer (23:04) and Steven Stamkos (22:52). … Marty St. Louis' empty net goal with 20 seconds left on Saturday, which capped off his fifth career hat trick, went down as a power play goal, which is just the Lightning's sixth power play in the past 60 opportunities.