Two players set to return, but surprise, somebody else injured for Tampa Bay Lightning

by Erik Erlendsson | @Erik_Erlendsson | Like us on Facebook
January 11, 2017

TAMPA, Fla. – Tampa Bay returned to the ice for a rare second consecutive day of practice and everything was status quo.

For this team, nowadays, the status quo from one day to the next is not a bad thing when it comes to what personnel are on the ice. That means no new injuries cropped up – unless you count the one that came out of left field involving Adam Erne, who was diagnosed with fractured foot after he was returned to Syracuse on Tuesday. Because he was injured blocking a shot during Sunday’s loss in Pittsburgh, he was officially returned to the Lightning roster and will be placed on injured reserve.

But as far as who is on track to return for Thursday’s game against Buffalo (7:30, Fox Sports Sun, 970-AM), there is some good news.

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Goaltender Ben Bishop made it through his second consecutive day of practice without any set backs and expects to return to the lineup either Thursday or Friday against Columbus. Bishop has been out since suffering a lower body injury on Dec. 20 against Detroit. He was expected to be out 3-4 weeks.

“I’m ready to go here after a couple of good practices,” Bishop said. “I’m ready to get back after it.”

It certainly wasn’t easy for Bishop to sit out as the team struggled.

“It’s never fun having to sit out and watch while you try to get better and focus on the challenge at hand of trying to get better,” Bishop said.

Having Bishop back will be a good addition to the lineup again, but associate coach Rick Bowness said it won’t matter who’s in goal for Tampa Bay if they continue to play defense the way they have for the past four games while allowing 22 goals.

“He’s a runner up for the Vezina trophy, he handles the puck like a defenseman back there,” Bowness said. “But give the kid Vasy some credit because we could not have played any worse in front of him in some of those games and he gave us a chance in almost every one of them, he battled so hard, he worked so hard and is such a great kid and a great young goaltender.

“And yes, it’s great to say that Bish is coming back, but we have to play a whole lot better in front of him. We can’t keep playing the way we are playing regardless of who is in net.”

LW Ondrej Palat, who had to leave practice on Tuesday after he got hit in the mouth with a stick during a drill, was back on the ice while wearing a full face cage and is expected to be good for Thursday’s game.

That also seems to be the case with center Brian Boyle, who also made it through his second consecutive practice and appears ready to return after missing the past four games with an undisclosed lower body injury.

Braydon Coburn, who missed the two games over the weekend, also made it through practice. Head coach Jon Cooper said on Tuesday that it’s a pain tolerance issue with Coburn on whether or not he’s able to return to the lineup.

Ryan Callahan and J.T. Brown were both absent from practice for the second consecutive day and are not expected to be in the lineup before the team heads to California to start a six-day road trip.

The lines for practice were the same as they were on Tuesday:

Ondrej Palat-Vladislav Namestnikov-Nikita Kucherov

Brian Boyle-Valtteri Filppula-Jonathan Drouin

Alex Killorn-Tyler Johnson-Matthew Peca

Michael Bournival-Cedric Paquette-Gabriel Dumont
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