Measuring stick week upcoming for the Lightning

The Tampa Bay Lightning run into a unique scheduling anomaly this week whereby their next three opponents are all teams they defeated in the playoffs to reach the 2021 Stanley Cup Final.

The Lightning start the week against the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday. The Canes suffered their first loss of the season Saturday in Sunrise 5-2 to the Florida Panthers, but they began the season with wins in their first nine contests, tied for the second-longest season-opening win streak in NHL history. The Bolts handled the Hurricanes in five games in the Second Round last season, Andrei Vasilevskiy recording a 29-save shutout in the series-clinching win at PNC Arena.
On Friday, the Lightning take on the Florida Panthers, their First Round opponent from last season. Tampa Bay eliminated Florida in six hard-fought, ill-tempered contests, Vasilevskiy stopping all 29 shots he faced in a 4-0 shutout victory in Game 6 at AMALIE Arena. The Panthers defeated the Lightning earlier this season 4-1 on October 19 and are the only team in the NHL without a regulation loss.
The Lightning cap the stretch of games against defeated playoff foes Monday, November 15 versus the New York Islanders, a team the Lightning beat 1-0 in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Semifinal to advance to a second-straight Cup Final, Vasilevskiy punctuating the win with an 18-save shutout (you're probably noticing a theme here).

"I hope we get some points out of this," Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said. "It is unique that we're playing the three teams we had to go through to get to the Cup Final all in a row."
In addition to playing three-straight vanquished opponents from last year's run to a second-straight Stanley Cup, the Lightning are treating the upcoming trio of games as a measuring stick of sorts to see where they're at.
Tampa Bay is on a season-long five-game point streak, having won four of its last five, and has looked good in building that run. But they've also stumbled at times too. The first two periods in Saturday's 5-3 win at Ottawa were uneven, the Lightning pulling away with three goals in the third to break a 2-all tie against the Senators, who occupy seventh place in the eight-team Atlantic Division. The Bolts would be talking about a five-game win streak entering this week had they not allowed a one-goal lead to slip late Thursday in Toronto, John Tavares tying the game with 41.1 seconds remaining in regulation and Mitch Marner completing the comeback win for the Maple Leafs in overtime.
Carolina and Florida have proven to be the two best teams in the NHL so far this season through a month of play. And while the Islanders have stumbled a bit out of the gate at 5-3-2, they typically have slow starts before finding their way as the season rolls along and proving to be a difficult out once the playoffs arrive.
All three contests will be played at AMALIE Arena. In fact, seven of the next eight games will be home games for the Lightning.
"There's a lot on the table right now this week," Cooper said. "I think we'll see where we're at. I'm not going to judge it on wins and losses. It'll be how we're playing, our compete. But, knowing that this isn't three months ago, this is now and things have changed for all the teams. We just can't sit and say, 'Well, we took them out of the playoffs. It's going to be automatic now.' No, these teams are flexing early in the season, and this will be a really, really good test for us."
BOGOSIAN NEARS A RETURN: Injured Lightning defenseman Zach Bogosian practiced with his teammates Monday for the first time since suffering a lower-body injury in an Opening Night loss October 12 to Pittsburgh.
And more good news: Bogosian wore a regular jersey throughout the session, signifying he could take contact.
Following the skate, Jon Cooper said Bogosian was nearing a return to game action but was still likely a week away.

"He's getting closer," Cooper said. "Let's get through these next three at home here I think, and then we can talk about him coming back."
Bogosian said he blocked a shot in the first period against the Penguins and knew something was wrong right away, although he finished the game, skating 14:14 time on ice.
"You never really know until you take your skate off," Bogosian recalled. "I've blocked enough shots in my career you know something's not right. Tough bounce the first game."
Bogosian started skating on his own last week. His initial timeline to return was four to six weeks. Tuesday will mark four weeks since the injury occurred. Cooper said last week he hoped to have Bogosian back before Thanksgiving, and it appears the 34-year-old right-shot defenseman is trending to come back a bit sooner.
"Still kind of early on but I felt good in practice today and we'll see how it progresses after today," Bogosian said. "It was my first day back with the team, so we'll evaluate tomorrow and go from there."
In other injury news, Boris Katchouk was a full participant at Monday's skate and could "potentially" be available to play tomorrow against Carolina, Cooper said.
Katchouk has missed the last three games with a lower-body injury he suffered in practice on Halloween.