Johnson, Schenn return tonight vs. Chicago

The Tampa Bay Lightning looked like a defending Stanley Cup champion Wednesday in a dominant 5-1 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Opening Night at AMALIE Arena.
And they'll get a boost to their lineup for game No. 2 by way of a pair of veteran players.
Tyler Johnson and Luke Schenn are both available and will play for the Lightning when they host the Blackhawks Friday night (puck drop 7 p.m.) in the second of a two-game set to start the season. The two were placed on waivers Monday, Tampa Bay general manager Julien BriseBois explaining it was a move to give him more flexibility and remain cap complaint. After clearing waivers Tuesday, the two had to be assigned to the taxi squad and weren't available to play in the 2020-21 season opener.
Now that they've been called up to the main roster, each will make their season debut tonight.

"It's just a sign of the times," Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said. "We've made our players all aware of this. They know this potentially might not be the last time this happens, and we've got to be ready for it. But we also know it's our job. We have a task at hand, and we have to perform. To keep our group together as Julien did, these are some of the ramifications and fallout from it."
Johnson was the subject of constant trade rumors during the offseason as the Lightning faced the difficult proposition of staying under the salary cap while re-signing "priority" restricted free agents Mikhail Sergachev, Anthony Cirelli and Erik Cernak, who were all due big raises coming off their entry level contracts.

A deal was never made, however, and at one point, Johnson was placed on waivers. The long-term injury to Nikita Kucherov for the entire 2020-21 season, while a big blow to the Lightning, also allowed them to retain most of their core, including Johnson. The Lightning were able to use long team injury relief for Kucherov to help their cap situation. They also traded Cedric Paquette and Braydon Coburn to Ottawa in exchange for the rights to Marian Gaborik and Anders Nilsson for the purposes of placing them on LTIR as well and getting further cap relief.
Johnson, who scored 14 goals and recorded 31 points during the 2019-20 regular season, handled the tumultuous offseason in stride and came into training camp with a "chip on his shoulder" according to Cooper.
"We've had guys come in here and have that and have great years," Cooper said, alluding to Kevin Shattenkirk and Zach Bogosian from the previous season. "If Johnny's effort is any indication what he's been giving here at the start and in training camp, he's in a really good spot."
Johnson is just two seasons removed from scoring 29 goals, matching his career high, and is a former NHL All-Star (2015).
He'll likely start on the second line playing the right wing alongside Alex Killorn (LW) and Anthony Cirelli (C). Mathieu Joseph was in that spot in Wednesday's opener and performed well, scoring a goal on three shots. He'll probably see time on the fourth line now that Johnson has returned.

"He's got so much energy and he's such a good skater that I think when you look at some of the goals or opportunities we had, a lot of it was because of his work and breaking up plays," Killorn said about Joseph's play Wednesday.
Schenn, meanwhile, enters the lineup likely in place of Cal Foote, who made his NHL debut Wednesday and was plus-2 with a hit in 10:59 of ice time.
Schenn only played 25 games in his first season with Tampa Bay in 2019-20 but came into the Lightning lineup during the postseason when the Bolts went to an 11 forward/7 defensemen alignment. He played in 11 playoff games and recorded two assists, both coming in the Eastern Conference Final, while giving the Lightning some needed physicality on the back end and adding depth to the penalty kill.

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