Blake Coleman available for Tampa Bay's road opener

Blake Coleman will be available for the Tampa Bay Lightning when they open the road portion of the 2020-21 schedule tonight against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena.
Coleman was placed on the National Hockey League's players unavailable due to COVID-19 protocols list Monday and Tuesday and didn't practice either day with the Lightning.
He was not on Wednesday's list, however, and he took the ice for Tampa Bay's morning skate in Columbus Thursday.

"The league's done a good job of setting up their protocols," Coleman said following Thursday's skate. "They're there to keep the players and our families safe. Thankfully didn't have to spend a lot of time on that list there, but it was the right thing to do and I think the team followed it to the best of our abilities. Happy to be back. I think stressful times for everybody. It's just the way this year's going to be, but as long as you're doing the right things, I think that's all you can really ask."
Despite not being allowed to practice with his teammates, Coleman said he trained on a bike at home to keep his cardio levels as game ready as possible. The assumption is he'll be back in the lineup when the Lightning take on the Blue Jackets, their playoff nemesis in the First Round of each of the last two playoff seasons.
Coleman scored the game-winning goal in Tampa Bay's 5-2 victory over Chicago Friday at AMALIE Arena - his first regular season goal with the Lightning - and added an assist for his first regular season multi-point game with the Bolts too.
"That was kind of the more frustrating part for me is that I was kind of feeling better each day as far as game shape, game timing, things like that," Coleman said. "It wasn't ideal to have to take a step off the ice again. But, I'm a pro, and I'm at home making sure my cardio stays up and things like that. But obviously the timing of game speed and hockey speed is a different thing. You can't simulate that."

Coleman said it's going to be a "weird year" where you wake up each morning to check your phone for a text from the team with the results of your Covid test that determines your fate for the next few days.
"You almost feel like you're letting the team down being on that list even though there's nothing you can really do about it," Coleman said. "You want to be on the team. You want to be helping win games. You don't want to spend a lot of time on there, but at the same time, you can only control what you can control."
Curtis McElhinney remains on the league's Covid list and will not be available for tonight's contest. McElhinney has been on the list since Saturday. With his absence, the Lightning recalled Spencer Martin from their American Hockey League affiliate in Syracuse to join the taxi squad.
Christopher Gibson, who last made a NHL appearance March 9, 2019 while with the New York Islanders, will serve as the Bolts' backup to Andrei Vasilevskiy.
"Is the plan 100 percent foolproof? It is not. Unless you do what we did in the summer, this is going to happen," Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said about the numerous players and teams that have been affected by Covid at the start of the season. "People have got families. There are some outside influences you can't control. If you play the percentages and follow what the guidelines are, you should mitigate risks. But no way it's going to be 100 percent foolproof. I think for the most part what we're seeing now, this is probably going to be the norm."

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