TORONTO -- Andrei Vasilevskiy could make his season debut for the Tampa Bay Lightning before December, coach Jon Cooper said.
The goalie has been out after having microdiscectomy surgery to address a lumbar disk herniation Sept. 28. The initial timeline was 8-10 weeks, but Cooper hopes Vasilevskiy will be ready around U.S. Thanksgiving. He started skating with the Lightning wearing full equipment in late October and rehabilitation has been going well ever since.
"I don't know, I'll be disappointed if it is early December," Cooper said Monday. "Hopefully it's a little earlier. We were kind of shooting for that Thanksgiving time.
"He is making great progress. He'd rather be doing more than he can right now. The timeline has still been the same, but I would start, I guess that Thanksgiving time to Dec. 1 we should be hoping that he is back."
Goalie Jonas Johansson made 27 saves in a 6-5 overtime loss at the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday. He's 5-1-4 with a 3.17 goals-against average, .907 save percentage and two shutouts.
Prior to signing a two-year, $1.55 million contract with the Lightning on July 1, Johansson played 35 NHL games for the Colorado Avalanche, Florida Panthers and the Buffalo Sabres.
"I think we didn't know what we had with Johansson," Tampa Bay captain Steven Stamkos said. "He's been around the League for a little bit but hasn't had a ton of experience, but for the most part this year, it has felt like we've had Vasilevskiy back there. He's played unbelievable and that's been a huge confidence boost for our group.
"Everyone was asking if we would need to change our game, play a little more defensive, things like that. I think it's allowed us to just stick to our structure because of how well Johansson has played."
The Lightning (5-3-4) are tied for third in the Atlantic Division.
