Cernak and Rutta return to practice

Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper is "hopeful" to have a pair of right-shot defenseman back in the lineup when the Bolts start a two-game set at Detroit on Tuesday to close out their six-game road trip.
Erik Cernak and Jan Rutta both practiced with the Lightning Monday at Little Caesars Arena ahead of Tuesday's game. Cooper, who coached his 600th career NHL game in Sunday's 6-3 win at Chicago, wasn't quite ready to pronounce both fully fit and ready for a return but was encouraged by their return to participation.

"Cernak is probably a little ahead of Rutta," Cooper said. "We're hopeful, that's the best I can say."
Cernak sustained a hard, high hit from Chicago's Connor Murphy midway through the second period of the Bolts' comeback win in Chicago over the weekend. Cernak, who notched his fifth assist of the season earlier in the contest, left the game with an upper-body injury and didn't return. Murphy was given a match penalty but won't receive supplemental discipline from the NHL Department of Player Safety.
Cernak was also absent from Tampa Bay's 3-2 overtime win in Chicago on Thursday from an unrelated upper-body injury.

Rutta has missed the last two games with a lower-body injury he suffered after taking an awkward, skates-first fall into the wall behind the net while battling for a loose puck in Thursday's win over Chicago. Rutta continued the game but wasn't able to finish the series against the Blackhawks, Cooper saying he woke up Friday and felt discomfort.
Rutta played perhaps his best game of the season in Thursday's win, tallying his sixth assist of the season, logging 20:27 minutes of ice time (longest of his career with Tampa Bay) and earning a plus-two rating.
With Rutta out for Sunday's contest, Andreas Borgman made his season and Lightning debut, notching a hit and takeaway in 10:29 TOI.
The Lightning, meanwhile, recalled forward Taylor Raddysh and goaltender Spencer Martin from AHL Syracuse to the taxi squad on Monday while sending forward Gemel Smith and goalie Christopher Gibson from the taxi squad to the Crunch.
The move allows Smith and Gibson the opportunity to get regular playing time with the Crunch while also giving Raddysh the chance to make his NHL debut. Raddysh, a second round selection (58th overall) by the Lightning in the 2016 NHL Draft, has two goals and three assists in nine games this season for Syracuse and is tied for the Crunch lead for scoring.
"When you bring guys up here, our goal is to get guys in," Cooper said. "At times we're handcuffed a bit about what we can do depending on injuries. It would be ideal if we could get him."
In other injury news, Cooper was asked about the status of Mitchell Stephens and whether the centerman was getting close to skating again. Stephens sustained a severe lower-body injury in the fourth game of the season January 23 at Columbus and is out indefinitely while he continues to rehab.
Stephens has missed 19 games because of the injury so far, and sounds like he'll remain out for the foreseeable future.
"He's improving but a long-termer," Cooper responded. "Let's wait until we get home and see where he's at."