After he was held out Sunday because of a scheduled off day, Tampa Bay Lightning center Steven Stamkos returned to the ice Monday to skate with Ondrej Palat and Ryan Callahan in the team's second Blue vs. White intrasquad scrimmage.
Stamkos had a shot on goal during the scrimmage. Lightning coach Jon Cooper was encouraged with what he saw from the Lightning captain, who missed 45 games last season with a broken tibia.
"There's no sense to put more burden than he has to have," Cooper told the Lightning website. "We're really happy with where he's at. Clearly, he's got much more jump, confidence than he ever had during that last stretch of the year when he came back after the injury."
The plan for Stamkos is to play in at least three of the Lightning's six preseason games. Tampa Bay begins their schedule Tuesday against the Nashville Predators at Amalie Arena.
"I've kind of realized what those off days can actually do to make your body feel good, and, [Monday], it felt really good," Stamkos said. "Obviously, you want to be out there with the guys every day skating, especially scrimmaging. For me, now that I've been able to have those days off and see how good the body reacts the next day, it's definitely worth it. It felt good to get out there and kind of get the legs going."
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