"Defenseman Derek Morris played less than two minutes Saturday night before leaving the game with a lower-body injury, putting an added burden on a blue line already missing another veteran in Adrian Aucoin.

In his absence, Oliver Ekman-Larsson played a career-high 30-plus minutes, with Michal Rozsival getting 28 minutes of ice time and Keith Yandle more than 24.

Coach Dave Tippett said going with five defensemen was not the only problem in the 4-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

"It's five defensemen, and it's chasing the game also," he said. "You want your 'D' up on the play every time you got a chance, so that can get taxing in a hurry on them.

"I thought Yandle, Ekman-Larsson did a real good job. They carried big minutes, and we pushed hard to get back. We needed one more opportunity to get in the net.""