TAMPA - Just like it was for much of the Stanley Cup Final last year with the Lightning, the Eastern Conference finals has turned in to a daily question and answer session seeking injury updates for Tampa Bay.
Did Ben Bishop practice? What's his status for the next game? How about Ryan Callahan? Should we read anything in to the absence of Steven Stamkos?
Head coach Jon Cooper took eight questions from his short morning meeting with the media. Seven of those questions surrounded the status of Bishop, Callahan or Stamkos.
So here's the run down of what the Lightning will have in their lineup for tonight's Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals.
Ryan Callahan - After missing Game 2 while battling the effects of the flu, Callahan was on the ice for the morning skate at Amalie Arena and is expected to be ready and available to be back in the lineup.
How bad were the flu symptoms? Cooper said Callahan gave him a good line when discussing the situation.
"He was so pissed because he said, 'Last year I played a game three days after getting my appendix out, and this year I can't even fight through the damn flu,','' Cooper said. "That must have been a bad flu bug. We've all -- let's be honest. We've all been there, like when you get zapped by it. He looked awful, felt awful, but he's game to get back.''
Callahan missed Game 6 of the second round last year due to an appendectomy but was on the ice for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals against the New York Rangers.
Ben Bishop - The injury that forced him off the ice on a stretcher in the first period of Game 1 is not expected to keep him out for the rest of the series. Though he will not be in the net on Wednesday, he has not been ruled out at this point for Game 4 on Friday.
Cooper said Bishop skated on his own in pads before the team took to the ice on Wednesday, and did work on getting up and down from the ice, which is a good sign. There is hope he will be able to practice with the team on Thursday.
"I think now we're teetering on whether he can be back or not, but there's obviously no guarantees in that,'' Cooper said. "But he's been making gradual steps every day.'' Steven Stamkos - The mystery question remains a mystery. As has been the case throughout his absence, there is no set guidelines or timelines for when or if he might return. While he has been skating and practicing with the team, his absence from the ice on Wednesday certainly did not go unnoticed.
While Cooper said there was no significance to his absence, a team spokesperson said later that it was a planned off-day for Stamkos and he did hold a workout on Tuesday after the team returned from Pittsburgh.
So, it's still a holding pattern and with no more than a few weeks left in the season at the most, one has to assume that a decision one way or the other might be coming in the near future as to whether or not there remains a chance he could come back and play before the season ends.