The first 22 games of the ’15-16 season haven’t gone the way the Tampa Bay Lightning had probably envisioned, but they appear to be heading on the right path.
After a pair of wins over the Rangers and Ducks last week, the Lightning got more good news, as it looks like they’re about to get some healthy bodies back.
Drouin (undisclosed), Paquette (upper body) and Johnson (upper body) skated at #TBLightning practice today. Team next plays Wed vs Kings
— Joe Smith (@JoeSmithNHL) November 22, 2015
Ryan Callahan returned to Tampa’s lineup on Saturday after missing a game because of a lower-body injury and center Tyler Johnson could return as soon as Wednesday’s tilt against the Kings.
On Sunday, the Lighting shipped Mike Blunden, Luke Witkowski and Mike Angelidis back to AHL Syracuse, which means that Johnson’s return is all but confirmed.
Jonathan Drouin and Cedric Paquette are still on the shelf and have yet to be cleared for contact.
Drouin (undisclosed) and Paquette (upper body) have been out since Nov. 16 (three games).
There’s a chance that both players could be cleared before Wednesday’s game.
If they are ready to return, the Lightning will have to send two more players to the farm.
So for the time being Marchessault and Vermin remain with #tblightning but TB is off until Wednesday so we'll see what it means on inj front
— Lightning Insider (@Erik_Erlendsson) November 22, 2015