****
at least it's not the season, but what kind of injury could this be?
Ummmm........
So, Guentzel back in lineup this Thursday?
Any signs either way??
Whether the Lightning will have top-line forward Jake Guentzel available when they resume play Thursday in San Jose remains to be seen. But Guentzel did return to practice Tuesday wearing a red no-contact jersey after missing the team’s last game Sunday against Montreal with an upper-body injury.
Despite wearing a red jersey Tuesday, Guentzel was a full participant in practice, skating with Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov on line rushes.
Guentzel will make the upcoming road trip — the team flies out Wednesday morning and practices in San Jose later in the day. Cooper was cautiously optimistic about him playing Thursday, which will be the beginning of a three-game, four-day stretch in California that includes a back-to-back against the Kings and Ducks.
“The game’s not for a couple more days,” Cooper said. “There’s been improvements since a couple games ago, so hopefully that continues and see what happens.”
"At first it was a lot of rest, I couldn't do a lot at the start, but then it gradually got better, and we were working in the gym, with treatment, with dry needling. Yeah, just the whole process, trying to get the blood where it needs to be, and then yeah I started skating five days ago. It's feeling good, to be with the boys too."
"So far I think we're on a good track to get back fast."
"My body feels pretty good so far, so I don't think we're on a bad track."
"It's the whole package. It's obviously trying to get the groin better that has been bothering me, and at the same time keep your overall physical shape, upper body conditioning, all of those things, so it's a mix (that I'm working on)."
“He’s progressing,” Cooper said. We’re still on that timeline. … We want to have him back, but that’s going to run right into the 4 Nations break. So that’s probably the time he would come back. ... We’ll see if it’s before that.”