Lightning 'taking it a day at a time' with injured forwards

The Tampa Bay Lightning are hurting.

Tyler Johnson, who missed Monday's game with an upper-body injury, won't be in the lineup Thursday against the New York Rangers. He'll be joined in the press box by Jonathan Drouin, who also didn't play Monday thanks to a lower-body injury.

Johnson's third on the team in scoring with three goals and 10 points in 19 games. Drouin has a goal and five assists in 14 games. Goals have been tough to come by for Tampa Bay, and the slow starts of Johnson and Drouin are part of the problem.

The injuries aren't expected to linger, though.

"Everyone is improving slowly," said general manager Steve Yzerman, according to the Tampa Bay Times' Joe Smith. "Taking it a day at a time."

Ryan Callahan, who has four goals and two assists in 20 games, is also nursing a lower-body injury and will sit out Thursday. However, he took part in the morning skate, so the odds of him returning to the lineup soon are good.

Tampa Bay made a number of roster moves due to the injuries, with Mike Angelidis and Luke Witkowski joining the club from the AHL. Joel Vermin was called up Wednesday.

Cedric Paquette, meanwhile, is on injured reserve with an undisclosed injury and will be eligible to return Nov. 25.