Rookie Hedman draws attention

Even without a single NHL game under his belt heading into Saturday, Tampa Bay rookie D Victor Hedman already might be a big star in his native Sweden.

A film crew from Sweden followed the 18-year-old around Atlanta last weekend, returned to Philips Arena for Hedman's first career game and will be on hand Thursday when the Lightning play their home opener against New Jersey.

It likely won't take long for Hedman to be a star on this side of the Atlantic Ocean.

"He's just one of those big guys that can skate," Lightning coach Rick Tocchet said. "When you can have a defensemen that's big, can skate like that and with his poise, those are very few in the NHL and he's one of them."

During the preseason, Hedman was logging more than 27 minutes a night. And while he likely won't be on the ice that much, he's performed well enough that his ice time won't be monitored.

"If he's playing well we're going to keep playing him," Tocchet said. "I think that he has a role he's going to play, and if he's going to play 27 minutes, he'll play 27 minutes. I'm not too worried about that. At the same time we are not going to rush him into things but he will play."

Hedman, who played 22:49 in his NHL debut while picking up his first career point with an assist, said logging a lot of ice time in the preseason helped him adjust to the smaller rinks.

"The more you play the more you get to know your way around and how it's going on out there," said Hedman, who revealed he doesn't take pregame naps to avoid feeling lazy. "I know the play is going to step up a little bit when the real season starts, but that's what I have to do, too."

Wright stuff

Lightning rookie C James Wright was a surprise to make his NHL debut Saturday. His former Vancouver Giants junior teammate LW Evander Kane, the fourth overall pick in June, was not.

At the tail end of last season and in the CHL playoffs, Kane and Wright worked on the same line for Vancouver. Saturday they were sitting on opposite benches.

"It's kind of weird that it worked out that way," Wright said. "It's going to be different seeing him on the other side of the ice rather than beside me on the bench."

Kane said he wasn't shocked at how things developed.

"I think it was unexpected by a lot of people, but James is a hard-working guy, he had a good year last year, especially down the stretch," Kane said. "I always thought he was a real good player, so I'm not surprised where he ended up."

Mike's the man

Tocchet said for the time being, the team intends to ride Mike Smith in net. While the topic has been discussed with goalie coach Cap Raeder, there isn't a set game when Antero Niittymaki will make his Tampa Bay debut.

"Smitty is our No. 1 goalie and he's going to play," Tocchet said. "We're lucky to have Nitty because he was a No. 1 goalie with the Flyers for a couple of years, too, and we'll have to get him in somewhere, but right now I just don't know."

Nuts and bolts

Lightning scratches were David Hale, Matt Smaby and Lukas Krajicek. ... D Kurtis Foster left the game in the second period with a lower-body injury and did not return. He expects to play Tuesday. ... Tampa Bay's AHL affiliate, the Norfolk Admirals, opened their season Saturday with a 3-1 loss to defending champion Hershey. Rookie G Dustin Tokarski stopped 29 shots in his professional debut. ... The deadline to register for tickets to the New Year's Day game at Fenway Park between Boston and Philadelphia is Monday at 11:59 a.m. Fans can register for the online ticket lottery at www.nhl.com/winterclassic.

Erik Erlendsson