Lightning vs. Wild: Projected lines; injuries

The Lightning continue their homestand against the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night at AMALIE Arena.

PROJECTED LINES
Lines are from Thursday's morning skate at AMALIE Arena, and subject to change.
Forwards
Ondrej Palat - Tyler Johnson - Nikita Kucherov
Alex Killorn - Brayden Point - Yanni Gourde
Adam Erne - Vladislav Namestnikov - Jonathan Drouin
Gabriel Dumont - Cedric Paquette - JT Brown (with Greg McKegg mixing in)
Defensemen
Victor Hedman - Jake Dotchin
Jason Garrison - Anton Stralman
Braydon Coburn - Andrej Sustr (with Luke Witkowski rotating in)
Goaltender
Andrei Vasilevskiy expected to start
THURSDAY'S MATCHUP
The Lightning and the Wild are playing their second of two meetings this season...Minnesota defeated Tampa Bay 2-1 in a shootout in the teams' previous meeting on February 10...Brayden Point netted the Lightning's lone goal to level the score 1-1 at 17:16 of the second period...Mikko Koivu was the only player to convert in the shootout...Brayden Point, Jonathan Drouin and Nikita Kucherov were all unsuccessful in their shootout attempts...Andrei Vasilevskiy made 37-of-38 saves in a losing effort...The Lightning have won three in a row at home over Minnesota and four of their last five...The Bolts are 5-3-1 with one tie all-time at home against the Wild...The Lightning have split the season series with Minnesota each of the last three seasons...Tampa Bay is 7-11-2 with one tie alltime overall versus Minnesota.
LIGHTNING-WILD STORYLINES
Entering Thursday's game, the Lightning trail the New York Islanders by four points for the final wild card in the Eastern Conference and are five points behind Boston with a game in hand for third place in the Atlantic Division...Since Feb. 3, Tampa Bay owns the fourth-best points percentage in the NHL (.731) behind only Chicago (.917), Calgary (.808) and Washington (.750)...The Lightning have scored more power-play goals (50) than any other team in the NHL, and the Bolts' power play ranks tied for fourth in the league at 22.1%...The Bolts are tied with Dallas for the league lead for power-play opportunities (226).
INJURIES
2016-17 Regular Season Man Games Lost: 194
Ryan Callahan - Follow up surgical procedure on right hip (OUT INDEFINITELY; INJURED JAN. 7) 24 Games
Steven Stamkos - Lateral meniscus tear in right knee (OUT APPROXIMATELY 4 MONTHS; INJURED NOV. 15) 48 Games
TRANSACTIONS
March 6, Recalled F Yanni Gourde from AHL Syracuse
March 1 - Acquired a 4th round pick in the 2018 NHL Draft from Pittsburgh in exchange for D Mark Streit
March 1 - Acquired D Mark Streit from Philadelphia 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 Toronto in exchange for F Brian Boyle
Feb. 27 - Claimed F Greg McKegg off waivers from Florida
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 Los Angeles in exchange for G Ben Bishop and a 5th round pick in 2017 Draft
IN THE NIK OF TIME
Tampa Bay forward Nikita Kucherov was named the NHL's First Star of the Week for the week ending March 5 after recording five goals and four assists through four games (Feb. 27 - March 4)...Since Feb. 27, Kucherov (5-4--9) is tied with BUF's Jack Eichel (4-5--9) for most points in the NHL...Kucherov saw his career-long six-game point streak come to an end March 6 at NYR...Kucherov's sixgame point streak (7 goals, 7 assists) is tied with Tyler Johnson (2 goals, 4 assists from Nov. 15-25) for longest on the Bolts this season...Kucherov paces Tampa Bay for goals (28) and ranks tied for 11th in the NHL...Kucherov's five-game goal streak (Feb. 21-March 3) is tied for the second longest in the NHL this season...Kucherov trails Chris Gratton by two goals for eighth place among the Bolts' all-time goal scorers.
HED OF THE CLASS
Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman saw his career-long-tying five-game point streak come to an end March 6 vs. NYR...Hedman has two goals and five assists over his last six games...Hedman has recorded points in eight of his last 10 games (5-8--13)...Hedman set a new career high for assists March 4 at BUF after tallying his 43rd of the season, bettering the 42 he put up in 2013-14...Hedman ranks fifth in the NHL for assists and second among league defensemen behind only OTT's Erik Karlsson (47)...Hedman matched his career high for scoring with his 55th point March 4 at BUF, equaling his point total from the 2013-14 season...Hedman ranks tied for 24th in the NHL for scoring and third among NHL blueliners.