"Tough kid," Cooper said. "With those injuries, you never know. I remember when Stralman's happened, it was much more severe than Ceddy's, but Ceddy's was still a pretty ugly injury. That's the first time he's jumped on the ice, so he's a little bit of time away. It's crunch time now. We've got to try and get these guys back as fast as we can."
Tyler Johnson was once again absent from practice, and no timetable has been given for his return. The Lightning's second-leading goal scorer (19 goals) has also missed the last five games.
Meanwhile, Steven Stamkos continues to participate in Lightning practice wearing a regular jersey and even took part in some small ice two-on-two drills that featured contact as well as tight skating.
"I think part of it too is it's not only a comfort level with his injury but now you've got to kind of get back into, I mean he's in shape but you can't replicate being out there in practice and grinding through and getting bumped and hit so I think that's going to take a little time," Cooper said. "But every day he comes off and there are no setbacks, so that's a really good sign."