Drouin scratched from Game 2; Cooper says rookie 'is going to play in series'

It won't be Game 2, but Jonathan Drouin's time will come.

So says Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper, who addressed the decision to sit the rookie forward for all but one of his club's eight playoff game to date, including Sunday's game against the Montreal Canadiens.

"We put in the 20 players we feel give us the best chance to play, and probably moving forward here he’s probably going to be in that 20 all the time. Just right now, he’s on the sidelines," Cooper told the Tampa Bay Times. "Whether he has to wait his turn or we feel a matchup is best for him, I’ll tell you (Drouin) is going to play in the series at some point."

Cooper stats it's all part of the learning curve, similar to what young forward Nikita Kucherov - scratched from half the team's playoff games - experienced a year ago. He also added Drouin is getting better each day, and it's probable he's waiting to deploy the 20-year-old on home ice, where he can better control matchups and zone starts.

Drouin recorded four goals and 28 assists in 70 regular season games, ranking fifth among all NHL players with 1.8 assists per 60 minutes played.