PROJECTED LINES
Lines are from the team's morning skate session on Thursday.
Forwards
Ondrej Palat - Vladislav Namestnikov - Nikita Kucherov
Alex Killorn - Tyler Johnson - Brayden Point
Jonathan Drouin - Valtteri Filppula - Ryan Callahan
Brian Boyle - Cedric Paquette - JT Brown
Defensemen
Victor Hedman - Andrej Sustr
Nikita Nesterov - Jason Garrison
Slater Koekkoek - Braydon Coburn (with Luke Witkowski mixing in)
Goalie
Ben Bishop expected to start
THURSDAY'S MATCHUP
The Lightning and Sabres are playing their first of four meetings this season...Tampa Bay went 3-1-0 versus Buffalo in 2015-16, including winning both games in Buffalo...The Lightning are 5-0-1 in Buffalo over the last three seasons and haven't lost in regulation in Buffalo since a 3-1 defeat April 14, 2013...The Bolts are 7-1-1 in Buffalo over the last five seasons...Ben Bishop allowed two goals in two starts to win twice against the Sabres last season...Bishop has never lost in regulation to Buffalo, going 8-0-1 in nine games with one shutout, a 1.63 GAA and a .938 save percentage...Tampa Bay is 10-2-1 overall over the last three seasons vs. Buffalo...In 90 all-time matchups against the Sabres, the Lightning have never had a player score a hat trick.
LIGHTNING-SABRES STORYLINES
The Lightning boast two players in the top three for scoring in the NHL with Nikita Kucherov (8-13--21) ranked second and Steven Stamkos (9-11--20) tied for third...Tampa Bay ranks tied for sixth in the NHL for scoring, netting 3.12 goals per game...Since the start of the 2013-14 season, the Lightning are tied for second in the league with Chicago for most combined regular season goals with 768 (1st: Dallas, 798)...Both Lightning special teams units are ranked in the NHL's top 10: The Bolts' power play is fifth at 23.9% and the penalty kill ranks ninth at 84.3%...The Bolts are playing the third game in a stretch of five road games in eight days tonight...The Lightning improved to 6-1-1 when getting outshot by their opponent on Tuesday.
INJURIES
Jonathan Drouin - Upper-body injury (DAY-TO-DAY; INJURED NOV. 1) 7 Games
Steven Stamkos - Torn lateral meniscus in right knee (OUT INDEFINITELY; INJURED NOV. 15)
Anton Stralman - Upper-body injury (DAY-TO-DAY; INJURED NOV. 12) 2 Games
TRANSACTIONS
Nov. 14 - Recalled D Luke Witkowski from AHL Syracuse
Nov. 8 - Re-assigned F Cory Conacher to AHL Syracuse
Nov. 6 - Recalled F Cory Conacher from AHL Syracuse
NOTEWORTHY
Tampa Bay is 10-0-1 this season when scoring three or more goals and 45-3-4 over the last two seasons (0-6-0 this season and 11-33-2 last two seasons when scoring less than three)...Ondrej Palat ranks tied for second in the NHL for takeaways (20)...The Bolts have held a lead after the first period just five times this season, including the last two games, and are 5-0-0 when doing so.
