PROJECTED LIGHTNING LINES
Saturday's morning skate was optional. These were the lines at Friday's practice.
Forwards
Ondrej Palat - Steven Stamkos - Nikita Kucherov
Alex Killorn - Tyler Johnson - Brayden Point
Ryan Callahan - Valtteri Filppula - Vladislav Namestnikov
Cedric Paquette - Brian Boyle - JT Brown
Defense
Victor Hedman
-
Anton Stralman
Jason Garrison
-
Andrej Sustr
Slater Koekkoek,
Braydon Coburn
and
Nikita Nesterov
rotating
Goalie
Ben Bishop expected to start
SATURDAY'S MATCHUP
The Lightning host the New Jersey Devils for the second time this season at AMALIE Arena this evening...The Bolts are in the midst of playing four of five home games...The Lightning and Devils are playing for the third time this season, with both teams each winning at home...The Bolts defeated the Devils 3-2 on Oct. 15 at AMALIE Arena, while New Jersey downed the Bolts 3-1 at the Prudential Center on Oct. 29...Andrei Vasilevskiy has been in goal for each of the first two games in the Lightning's season series against New Jersey...The Lightning own a record of 17-20-3 with five ties against the Devils on home ice, including three consecutive home wins against New Jersey...The Bolts will be looking to snap their two-game losing skid at AMALIE Arena.
LIGHTNING-DEVILS STORYLINES
Steven Stamkos enters tonight's match-up with points in three straight games (two goals, two assists)...Stamkos is tied for the NHL lead for goals with seven and is also tied for second for points with 13...Nikita Kucherov comes into tonight's game with 11 points (three goals, eight assists) over his past six games...Kucherov is currently tied for second in the league for points (13) and is also tied for second for assists with 10...Brayden Point has recorded two of his four assists this season against New Jersey...Tampa Bay has recorded four power-play goals over their past two games and its 11 power-play goals ranking tied for third in the NHL...The Lightning are converting power plays at a 26.7% success rate, third best in the league...The Bolts have scored multiple power-play goals in five of 11 games.
INJURIES
2016-17 Regular Season Man Games Lost: 10
Current injuries
Jonathan Drouin- Upper-body injury (Day-to-day; injured Nov. 1) - 1 game
TRANSACTIONS
Oct. 31 - Recalled D Slater Koekkoek from AHL Syracuse
Oct. 31 - Reassigned D Matt Taormina to AHL Syracuse
RACKING UP THE WINS
Since the start of the 2013-14 season, the Lightning rank fifth in the NHL for overall regular season victories (148)...The Bolts' regular season win percentage since 2013-14 (.620) ranks seventh in the league.
COMBINED WINS SINCE 2013-14
1. St. Louis (157)
2. Anaheim (155)
3. New York Rangers (152)
4. Pittsburgh (149)
5. Tampa Bay (148)
Per the Elias Sports Bureau, the Lightning have the most combined home wins (60) and best home win percentage (.720) in the NHL since the start of the 2014-15 season (second: New York Rangers; 58 wins and .702 win percentage)...The Bolts are 3-1-1 at AMALIE Arena this season.
