Bogosian was initially targeted to return in four to six weeks. A couple weeks ago, Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said they were hopeful to get Bogosian back before Thanksgiving, so the fact he's returning a little over four weeks since suffering the injury means he was able to get back to game action a little earlier than expected.
"This was a date that was circled that was probably the first (potential) day (back) because we had all these practices and got to bang around a bit," Cooper said.
Bogosian's return couldn't come at a better time with Erik Cernak out week-to-week after he suffered an upper-body injury in the first period of the Bolts' last contest Tuesday versus Carolina. The Lightning will also get Mikhail Sergachev back on the blue line after the Russian defenseman served his two-game suspension for an illegal hit to the head against Toronto's Mitch Marner November 4.
"With Cernak out, to have a little more depth on the right side is much needed," Cooper said of Bogosian's return. "He'll help."
Bogosian said he's worked hard the last few weeks getting his conditioning where it needs to be to return to game action. He'll get tested tonight against a Panthers team that transitions from defense to offense as quick as any team in the NHL.
"Anytime you don't play games, the level of pace compared to games, practice and rehab stuff is pretty big," Bogosian said. "Anytime you get a chance to get back in there, it's going to take you a little while to get your feet wet as far as conditioning-wise. I'm looking forward to it."
Bogosian said the rehab process was smooth.
"You never know with certain injuries," he said. "Sometimes they go fast. I've been part of rehabs that go super quick right away and then you kind of hit a plateau. This has been gradually getting better and better day by day. I feel good. I feel confident about it and looking forward to it."
