Bogosian, Katchouk return to Lightning lineup tonight

The Tampa Bay Lightning will be throwing a couple Bo's at Florida when the two in-state rivals take the ice tonight at AMALIE Arena.
Zach Bogosian "Bogo" and Boris "Bo" Katchouk will return to the Lightning lineup in the Bolts' second of four meetings this season against the Panthers (and the last of two at AMALIE Arena). Bogosian will play in his first game since sustaining a lower-body injury blocking a shot in the first period of the season opener October 12 versus Pittsburgh. Katchouk has missed the last four games recovering from a lower-body injury he picked up at practice on Halloween.

Bogosian is in his second stint with the Lightning since rejoining the team during the offseason after playing with Toronto last season. He was a trade deadline acquisition of Tampa Bay during the 2019-20 season and helped the Lightning win the first of their back-to-back Stanley Cup championships.
"Super excited," Bogosian said about playing tonight. "It was a long four weeks. I'm just excited to get back out there and get back in the mix."

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."

Katchouk hasn't been available for the last six games. The first two he was a scratch as the coaching staff wanted to work fellow rookie Alex Barre-Boulet into the lineup. Then Katchouk was injured during a training session on Halloween and was shelved four more games while he recovered.
"It's a little frustrating, but it's part of the game," Katchouk said. "I just can't let it be a letdown. Something in practice I tweaked and didn't feel very good. Got some treatment and now feel pretty good."
Katchouk will likely take Barre-Boulet's spot in the Lightning lineup tonight when they face off against the Panthers. He said he spent his time while sidelined watching the team from above in the press box to see the game from a different perspective.
"It's huge, breaking down the play with exceptional guys out there," Katchouk said. "It was good time off, but now I'm ready to go."