Steven Stamkos is serving as an inspiration for the Lightning as the defending Eastern Conference champions attempt to make a deep playoff run without him.

He was back on the ice with teammates Tuesday, participating in shooting and skating drills for the first time since undergoing surgery for a blood clot discovered near his right collarbone this month.

Stamkos and coach Jon Cooper, however, stressed he is not anywhere close to being ready to face the Islanders in a second-round series that begins Wednesday night.

"Nothing's changed from the original timeline," said Stamkos, who wore a red noncontact sweater during an hourlong practice.

Willie Mitchell played parts of 15 NHL seasons, and even found a way back on the ice after a knee injury kept him out for more than a year.

This time, it looks almost certain that he's gone for good.

The Panthers don't expect their captain to be back next season, and one of his closest friends on the team essentially revealed Tuesday that he thinks Mitchell's career is over. Mitchell missed the final 42 games of this season largely over concern what another brain injury would mean to his long-term health, and it's been expected for weeks that this season would be the finale.

"Willie's been a consummate professional," Panthers GM Dale Tallon said. "He's been a great captain. He's won Stanley Cups. He's given his body and soul to the game. It's hard. ... It's never easy and I'll give him all the support he can get."

Wild left wing Thomas Vanek will miss the start of the team's first-round playoff series with an upper-body injury he recently aggravated.

Interim coach John Torchetti said after practice Friday that Vanek will be out "more than a week."

That means he is likely to miss at least two postseason games for the Wild, who have the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference and will play either Dallas or St. Louis.

The Blackhawks think they will be at full strength when the NHL playoffs start next week.

But tonight, the defending Stanley Cup champions were without goaltender Corey Crawford and forwards Artem Anisimov, Marian Hossa and Andrew Shaw for a 2-1 overtime loss to the Blues on Thursday.

Crawford, Anisimov and Shaw sat out with upper-body injuries, and Hossa is making his way back from a lower-body injury. Crawford and Hossa participated in Chicago's morning skate, and it looks as if Crawford will return for Saturday's season finale at Columbus for his first game since a loss to the Kings on March 14.

Lightning forward Steven Stamkos will undergo surgery to treat a blood clot in his right arm and is expected to miss one to three months, GM Steve Yzerman said after the team's 3-1 victory over the Devils on Saturday night.