Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy continues to work his way back to playing form after undergoing microdiscectomy surgery due to a lumbar disc herniation in September.

The Russian, who has not played since a 2-1 season-ending loss in overtime to the Maple Leafs in the playoffs on April 29, has been skating for two weeks and was taking shots from his teammates at practice on Monday.

“It feels amazing," Vasilevskiy told Lightning beat reporter Chris Krenn of his return to the ice. "Obviously, it’s been a long time. Obviously, it’s unfortunate, but it is what it is. I took that time to recover well and to prepare myself for the first practice. I feel good."

It's believed that the 29-year-old could make his return to action around Nov. 24, which would be good news for the Lightning, who are currently 6-5-4 on the season and in fifth place in the Atlantic Division.

Minnesota Wild

Wild forward Kirill Kaprizov was not seen on the ice Monday when the team skated ahead of its trip to Sweden, according to Michael Russo of The Athletic.

Head coach Dean Evason later said it was merely a maintenance day for the Russian, who was "a little banged up," according to Russo.

Kaprizov is second in team scoring with five goals and 10 assists in 15 games for the struggling Wild, just one point back of Mats Zuccarello. The Russian is a -11 on the season as the team (5-8-2) sits in sixth place in the Central.

The Wild play the Ottawa Senators on Saturday, followed by the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday, in Stockholm as part of the NHL's Global Series.

Carolina Hurricanes

It's trendy to go retro these days, but is bringing back Cooperalls really a good idea?

The Hurricanes seem to think so, tweeting out an image of defenceman Jaccob Slavin wearing the long pants that any kid who played in the 1980s remembers. The team is promoting a game on Feb. 10 where they'll don Hartford Whalers uniforms (the franchise moved from Hartford in 1997 before becoming the Hurricanes).

But will they really wear the pants, too?

Pittsburgh Penguins

Penguins forward Jeff Carter is dealing with an upper-body injury according to head coach Mike Sullivan.

Carter, who was not at practice on Monday, has zero points in 10 games for the Penguins this season.

The Penguins struggled to start the season, but have won their last four games to jump up the standings.

Around the NHL: Tampa's Vasilevskiy takes shots; are Cooperalls really back?

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