PROJECTED LINES
Lines are from Friday's game against the Penguins. The Lightning didn't hold a morning skate on Saturday. Subject to change.
Forwards
Ondrej Palat - Tyler Johnson - Nikita Kucherov
Alex Killorn - Brayden Point - Jonathan Drouin
Greg McKegg - Vladislav Namestnikov - Adam Erne
Gabriel Dumont - Cedric Paquette - J.T. Brown
Defensemen
Victor Hedman - Jake Dotchin
Jason Garrison - Anton Stralman
Braydon Coburn - Andrej Sustr
Goaltender
Andrei Vasilevskiy expected to start
SATURDAY'S MATCHUP
The Lightning and the Sabres are playing their third of four meetings this season and second of two at KeyBank Center...The Bolts have won both prior meetings by a combined 8-3 score...In the last matchup, Tampa Bay earned a 4-2 victory at home (Jan. 12), Ondrej Palat scoring a pair of goals in the win, part of a season-high three-point night for the forward...In their last visit to KeyBank Center (Nov. 17), the Lightning were victorious 4-1 behind a pair of goals from Nikita Kucherov...Former Tampa Bay goalie Ben Bishop picked up the win in both 2016-17 Lightning victories over Buffalo...The Bolts have won 10 of their last 12 regular season games versus Buffalo, going 10-1-1 over that stretch...The Lightning are 35-45-7 with five ties all-time against Buffalo...The Bolts have earned at least a point in seven-straight games in Buffalo, going 6-0-1 dating back to the start of the 2013-14 season...The Lightning are 19-21-3 with two ties all-time in Buffalo.
LIGHTNING-SABRES STORYLINES
Tonight's game is the fourth of five-straight games against Eastern Conference opponents for Tampa Bay...The Lightning are playing the second game of a stretch of three games in four days and are also playing the second half of a back-to-back set...Since Feb. 3, the Bolts own the third-best record in the NHL (7-2-2, .727).
INJURIES
2016-17 Regular Season Man Games Lost: 190
Ryan Callahan - Follow up surgical procedure on right hip (OUT INDEFINITELY; INJURED JAN. 7) 22 Games
Steven Stamkos - Lateral meniscus tear in right knee (OUT APPROXIMATELY 4 MONTHS; INJURED NOV. 15) 46 Games
TRANSACTIONS
March 1 - Acquired a 4th round pick in the 2018 NHL Draft from the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for D Mark Streit
March 1 - Acquired D Mark Streit from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for F Valtteri Filppula, a 4th round pick and a 7th round pick in the 2017 NHL Draft
Feb. 28 - Re-assigned F Yanni Gourde to AHL Syracuse
Feb. 27 - Acquired F Byron Froese and a conditional 2nd round pick in the 2017 NHL Draft from the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for F Brian Boyle
Feb. 27 - Claimed F Greg McKegg off waivers from the Florida Panthers
Feb. 27 - Recalled F Yanni Gourde from AHL Syracuse
Feb. 27 - Recalled F Adam Erne from AHL Syracuse
Feb. 26 - Acquired G Peter Budaj, D Erik Cernak, a 7th round pick and a conditional pick in the 2017 NHL Draft from the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for G Ben Bishop and a 5th round pick in 2017 Draft
Feb. 25 - Acquired RW Stefan Fournier from the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for RW Jeremy Morin
