Lightning winger Ryan Callahan back at practice after appendectomy

Tampa Bay Lightning winger Ryan Callahan is back at practice just three days after undergoing an emergency appendectomy.

Tampa Bay Lightning winger Ryan Callahan is back at practice just three days after undergoing an emergency appendectomy.

Callahan sat out Tampa Bay's second-round clinching Game 6 win on Tuesday night against Montreal after being sent to the hospital on Monday with abdominal pain and having the procedure done. According to reports, Callahan, improbably, was the first one on the ice at practice on Thursday.

The Lightning will face Callahan's former team, the New York Rangers, in the Eastern Conference Finals beginning Saturday. Lightning coach John Cooper would not rule Callahan out for the game, according to Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times, and that the team would see how he feels in the next couple of days.

Callahan told reporters he was day-to-day.

• GALLERY: NHL's All-Appendectomy Team

Last March, Callahan, then New York's captain, was dealt to Tampa in exchange for longtime Lightning forward and captain Martin St. Louis, now a key member of the Rangers, adding some intrigue to the teams' upcoming series.

Callahan was Tampa Bay's fifth-leading scorer this season with 54 points and second among forwards in ice time per game, skating on a line with Steven Stamkos and Alex Killorn. He has no goals, three assists, and has registered a plus-7 in 12 playoff games.

Callahan, three days after an emergency appendectomy, practicing in regular colored jersey pic.twitter.com/3BSKcY7Q2B

— Joe Smith (@JoeSmithNHL) May 14, 2015

- Jeremy Woo