Their Olympic memories now in the rear view, the Lightning players who represented their home countries in Milan, Italy, have turned the page and are focused on another important chase.
The Lightning return to play Wednesday at home against the Maple Leafs, opening a stretch run of 27 games in 50 days to round out the regular season after entering the break with the best point percentage (.709) in the Eastern Conference after going 19-1-1 over their last 21 games.
“Just full focus on this,” captain Victor Hedman said. “We’ve just got to get ready from the start, a divisional opponent right away (Wednesday), so it’s gonna be a lot of fun.”
Much like the chase for a Stanley Cup, only one team comes out of the Olympics satisfied. And Hedman — who waited 17 years into his NHL career for his first and likely only chance to play in the Winter Games — had a premature end to his stay, scratched from Sweden’s quarterfinal game against the United States after suffering a lower-body injury during warmups. Hedman watched the 2-1 overtime loss from the bench.
“I felt I wasn’t 100%,” he said. “And representing your country is more than yourself. So you’ve got to be a little unselfish, and I felt like not playing was the best for the team. I don’t think I could have played on my level in that game. … It was a no-brainer for me to stay on the bench and get through that game and hopefully play the next one. But you can’t ask for anything else than the guys put on and the performance they put on.”
Despite that injury occurring just six days earlier, Hedman was a full participant in his first practice back in a Lightning uniform Tuesday at Benchmark International Arena and said he will be in the lineup Wednesday. He has played in just 21 games this season and missed most of three months with an elbow injury that would require surgery before returning for the final three games before the break.
Jake Guentzel, who won a gold medal with the United States, is expected to be back on the ice Wednesday night to play against the Maple Leafs, assistant coach Rob Zettler said Tuesday. (Luis Santana/Tampa Bay Times)
“It’s frustrating and still a little bit of a disbelief that it happened before one of the most important games in my career,” Hedman said. “But that’s what it is, and now the focus is on this group in here, and it feels great to be back and finally starting to feel like myself again. So it’s good.”
Defenseman J.J. Moser’s Swiss team, which was coming off back-to-back silver-medal showings at the world championship, led Finland by two goals going into the final seven minutes of regulation in the quarterfinal round before losing 3-2 in overtime.
“Because it’s a tournament that’s only every four years, it has an intensity a little bit higher than one of 82 games in the regular season,” Moser said. “But I think it’s comparable to playoff hockey.”
Moser said he doesn’t believe the Lightning will have trouble jumping back into the NHL season.
“I don’t think this team lets itself (get) out of the groove,” he said. “We’ve built a culture that is built on consistency, and that’s not going to change whether we had a break or not.”
Despite an earlier injury, Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman was a full participant in his first practice back in a Lightning uniform Tuesday at Benchmark International Arena and said he will be in the lineup Wednesday. (Luis Santana/Tampa Bay Times)
All Lightning Olympians whose teams didn’t advance to the semifinal round — Hedman, Moser, Pontus Holmberg (Sweden), Zemgus Girgensons (Latvia) and Oliver Bjorkstrand (Denmark) — were on the ice for Tuesday’s practice.
Assistant coach Rob Zettler said that head coach Jon Cooper, who coached Canada to a silver medal, would be back for Wednesday’s game, and Jake Guentzel (USA), Brandon Hagel (Canada) and Erik Cernak (Slovakia) will play.
Guentzel returned from Italy with his gold medal-winning teammates on Monday and is back in Tampa. He was not part of Team USA’s contingent in Washington on Tuesday after the team was invited to attend the State of the Union address by President Donald Trump following its overtime win over Canada in the final.
Guentzel’s decision to stay in Tampa was to allow for rest and to prioritize Wednesday’s game and the rest of the regular season.
The Lightning are expected to get top center Brayden Point back from injured reserve, as well as defensemen Emil Lilleberg and Charle-Edouard D’Astous, for Wednesday’s game.
Center Anthony Cirelli wore a red no-contact jersey on Tuesday and still must feel comfortable taking contact in practice before he can return to a game. Center Nick Paul remained absent from practice.
©2026 Tampa Bay Times. Visit tampabay.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Up next
Maple Leafs, 7:30 Wednesday, Benchmark International Arena TV/streaming: TNT; HBO Max, tblightning.tv Radio: 102.5-FM
