Kucherov returns to practice but won't play Tuesday against San Jose

The Tampa Bay Lightning got a bit of good news Tuesday prior to their final game before the All-Star break with the appearance of Nikita Kucherov for the team's optional morning skate.
Kucherov entered the NHL's COVID protocol January 25 and missed the last two games as a result.
He'll also have to sit tonight's contest versus the San Jose Sharks.
Although Kucherov was able to practice Tuesday, he still hasn't been cleared to play and will be sidelined a third-consecutive game.
But it'll likely be his last missed game as the Bolts have an extended break for All-Star Weekend in Las Vegas and don't play again until they make up a postponed game February 10 at Colorado.

Head coach Jon Cooper said the Lightning will use the same lineup tonight they did in Saturday's 3-2 shootout loss to the Vegas Golden Knights. Which means Andrei Vasilevskiy will again get the start in net and will be going for his 25th victory of the season and fifth-consecutive season posting 25 or more wins.

Tampa Bay will have six complete days off following tonight's contest before returning to practice Tuesday, February 8 in preparation for the Colorado-Arizona back-to-back, which begins two nights later in Denver.
The Lightning can desperately use the break. Defensemen Erik Cernak and Zach Bogosian remain out with lower-body injuries and need time to heal. Kucherov is still not able to come off the COVID list. And multiple other players have various bumps and bruises that could use a reprieve from the daily pounding.
Cooper said the coaching staff won't need to send the players into the break with instructions on how to stay sharp for when play resumes. This Lightning team is a veteran group that knows how to take care of their bodies and have them ready for peak performance.
It will be imperative, however, to go into the break on a positive so the focus can remain on rest and recovery and not what went wrong their last time on the ice.
"We circled this not just tonight but the three-game set coming in, and we've kind of broken it down," Cooper said. "Our mini little break starts after the game tonight, not before. So, we've taken three of (a possible) four (points). We've wanted more than that. It's vital we get points out of tonight, especially against a team that's had a pretty grueling road trip here and not to lose sight of this is part of our season. I know guys are looking forward to a little bit of a break, but it has to start tonight. This group is pretty focused on what we're supposed to do. The big thing for me tonight is not thinking about the break but is erasing what happened the last time we played these guys. This game was way closer statistically than the score turned out to be. We've just got to keep our focus understanding this is a pretty desperate team coming in."
Tampa Bay steamrolled the Sharks 7-1 in the teams' first meeting 10 days ago at SAP Center, the Lightning scoring four goals in the first period, their most in a period this season, to take control of that contest early and stay in control for the remainder of the game. Tampa Bay has won four in a row over the Sharks -- outscoring them a combined 23-5 -- and six of the last seven meetings.

But they'll be playing a desperate team tonight that no doubt will have revenge on its mind. The Sharks are finishing up a difficult, four-game road trip that started in Washington and had stops in Florida and Carolina before concluding in Tampa. They've gone 1-1-1 on the trip, taking three of a possible six points, and will be aiming to finish on a high before beginning their own All-Star break.
Ryan McDonagh said the Lightning have been on both ends of a lopsided result and knows the Sharks will be eager to rectify that blowout defeat with a positive performance tonight.
"They're going to be fired up to play us," McDonagh said. "I think it's their last game of a long (trip) too, so you always want to end on a high note. That's no different for us. We know our schedule too, and this is the last game for a while, so we want to try and end on a high note. I would expect both teams to try and get off to a good start, a fast start and probably going to come down to some execution, some details and ultimately who can find a way to close it out in the end. I'm expecting it to be pretty tight."