Lightning's Peter Budaj: Will suit up in minor-league contest

Budaj (leg) will start for AHL Syracuse in Friday's matchup with AHL Hershey, Erik Erlendsson of LightningInsider.com reports.

Friday's game will mark Budaj's first game action since Dec. 29. The news effectively pushes back the netminder's potential return to the Lightning lineup to Saturday against Montreal at the earliest. Given how much coach Jon Cooper likes to utilize starter Andrei Vasilevskiy, the veteran Budaj will likely see just a handful of outings once cleared to play.