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Positive injury news for Stamkos, other Lightning players

Tampa Bay Lightning v New Jersey Devils

NEWARK, NJ - FEBRUARY 26: Steven Stamkos #91 of the Tampa Bay Lightning skates against the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center on February 26, 2016 in Newark, New Jersey. The Lightning shutout the Devils 4-0. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

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Injury updates are frequently “glass half-empty/half-full” propositions, but the playoffs tend to magnify that optimism vs. pessimism.

With that in mind, Sunday’s injury updates for the Tampa Bay Lightning could be seen as a stream of positive news ... or a lot of teasing.

The general feeling is that there were at least baby steps in the right direction.

Most importantly, or at least most hopefully, Steven Stamkos participated in full gear and even spent some time during various drills (including some penalty kill practice).

The half-empty part is that nothing major really changed beyond that positive sign:

The Lightning need to practice due diligence with Stamkos, after all.

Really, the more tangibly positive news might just be that Anton Stralman’s return could be looming.

While he didn’t practice this morning, there’s at least a chance Ben Bishop could play for Tampa Bay against Pittsburgh in Game 2 on Monday.

(Still remarkable.)

Also, Tyler Johnson appears to be fine after that knee-to-knee hit with Chris Kunitz.

Looking at the above updates, maybe it would be more accurate to say that the glass is three-quarters-full?