TAMPA, Fla. -- The Calgary Flames and the Tampa Bay Lightning, who meet tonight here at the St. Pete Times Forum, are like two ships passing in the night.

The Lightning (12-16-2) will conclude a two-game homestand tonight, hoping to grab a win before leaving for a three-game road trip. Tampa Bay has been reeling recently, having lost 11 of their last 15.

The Flames (14-14-2), meanwhile, are getting hot. After winning just eight of their first 21 games, they're 6-2-1 in their last nine games.

The Flames have scored 14 goals over the last four games and positive signs abound.

"We're showing confidence," said Calgary coach Brent Sutter. "We've worked hard and we don't want to fall back now."

Tampa Bay, by contrast, has been beset with troubles on all sides.

"Adversity, adversity, adversity," Lightning coach Guy Boucher said when asked to describe the season so far. "That's what it's been since training camp."

Boucher pointed to injuries, power-play production and secondary scoring as causes for the team's slide.

"Mattias Ohlund isn't skating and he isn't even close to coming back," Boucher said of the mainstay defenseman who is yet to play a game following offseason surgery on both knees. "It's a question of pain tolerance and mobility. His knees are worn down."

The power play, which is 24th in the League at 15.0 percent, currently is mired in a 2-for-21 slump. Last season at this point, the success rate stood at 24 percent.

Almost half of the team's goals this season have come from three players -- Steven Stamkos (18), Vincent Lecavalier (11) and Martin St. Louis (9). With St. Louis sidelined indefinitely with facial and nasal fractures, Boucher has called on other players to fill the gap; to date, they have not.

Teddy Purcell doesn't have a point in five games and has no goals and only 3 assists in his last 16; Ryan Shannon, brought in as a free agent this season to add scoring, has 1 goal in the last nine games; Dana Tyrell hasn't scored a goal in 10 games.

"We need the second and third lines to score to give us a bit of offense," Tyrell said. "We know we're capable of doing it; it'll come, we just can't get down on ourselves."

"Obviously, we're not getting the results we want," Boucher said. "There were high expectations even though last year we were viewed as a 'Cinderella' team. But we're close. It's a fine line and any game could be the turnaround game for us."

TAMPA, Fla. -- Here are the lineups the Lightning and Flames likely will put on the ice when the teams meet tonight at St. Pete Times Forum.

FLAMES
Curtis Glencross - Olli Jokinen - Jarome Iginla
Alex Tanguay - Brendan Morrison - Rene Bourque
Blake Comeau - Mikael Backlund - Lee Stempniak
Tom Kostopoulos - Matt Stajan - Tim Jackman

Scott Hannan - Derek Smith
Jay Bouwmeester - Chris Butler
T.J. Brodie - Brett Carson
Miikka Kiprusoff will start in goal, with Leland Irving the backup.

LIGHTNING
Tom Pyatt - Vincent Lecavalier - Steve Downie
Ryan Malone - Steven Stamkos - Teddy Purcell
Blair Jones - Dominic Moore - Ryan Shannon
Dana Tyrell - Nate Thompson - Adam Hall

Victor Hedman - Eric Brewer
Brett Clark - Pavel Kubina
Marc-Andre Bergeron - Matt Gilroy

Mathieu Garon will start in goal, with Dwayne Roloson backing him up.

For more on tonight's game, check out the preview here.

WINNIPEG -- A 5-1 home loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night has the Washington Capitals in need of a win tonight against the Winnipeg Jets.

The Capitals continue their transition under new coach Dale Hunter, but have picked up three wins over their past five games. The road has not treated the Capitals well this season, and the team is 1-7 in its past eight games away from Washington. The Capitals wrap up their two-game road swing on Saturday night against the Colorado Avalanche.

The Capitals' top line of Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and Alexander Semin have managed only four combined goals since Hunter took over behind the bench, but Hunter is still encouraged by their play and expects that production will follow.

"They've been getting opportunities," Hunter said. "As long as they keep getting opportunities, good things happen."

The Capitals will do without defenseman Mike Green and forwards Jay Beagle and Matt Hendricks against the Jets.

Here are tonight's projected lines and pairings for Washington:

CAPITALS
Alex Ovechkin - Nicklas Backstrom - Alexander Semin
Troy Brouwer - Marcus Johansson - Jeff Halpern
Jason Chimera - Brooks Laich - Joel Ward
Cody Eakin - Mathieu Perreault - Mike Knuble

Karl Alzner - John Carlson
John Erskine - Dennis Wideman
Dmitry Orlov - Roman Hamrlik

Michal Neuvirth
Tomas Vokoun

The Edmonton Oilers will welcome Taylor Hall back into the lineup Thursday when they visit the Phoenix Coyotes tonight.

Hall had been sidelined seven games with a left shoulder injury. According to CBC, Hall likely will play on a line with center Shawn Horcoff and forward Ales Hemsky.

"I'm glad to be back as soon as I could," Hall told reporters. "It (stinks) missing games, especially when the team's not doing well. You just want to be back and help, but I'm glad I took the extra few days to get it better and I feel great now."

In his absence, the Oilers have gone 2-4-1, including a 3-0 loss Saturday in Calgary..

Hall has 7 goals and 11 assists in 22 games this season.

In addition to Hall, defenseman Corey Potter is expected to return to the lineup for the first time since suffering an ankle injury in mid-November. Potter has 2 goals and 6 assists in 16 games.

Here's what the lineup for the Oilers -- and the Coyotes -- could look like tonight.

PHOENIX -- The Phoenix Coyotes will be looking to avoid their first four-game regulation-time losing streak in coach Dave Tippett's tenure tonight when they host the Edmonton Oilers at Jobing.com Arena.

The Coyotes have had only two losing streaks of three games or more since Tippett took over to begin the 2009-10 season. but the Coyotes are 2-5-0 in December and lost their third straight Wednesday, a 4-1 loss in Anaheim on Wednesday. The Coyotes were outscored 13-4 in losses at Detroit, home against Minnesota and at the Ducks, and have been outscored 8-0 in the first period of those games. Phoenix has allowed 13 first-period goals in its last six games, dating to a 4-2 loss against Philadelphia on Dec. 3, when they allowed four goals in the first period.
 
The Oilers are struggling as well, having won just two of their last eight games (2-5-1), including a 3-0 loss in Calgary on Saturday.

They will get a lift tonight, though, with the addition of Taylor Hall. who hasn't played since suffering a shoulder injury Nov. 26 at Colorado. Hall will play on the second line Thursday, with Shawn Horcoff and Ales Hemsky. Ryan Smyth, who had been playing in Hall's spot, will slide to the third line, alongside ex-Coyote Eric Belanger and Ryan Jones.
 
Defenseman Corey Potter (knee) also is ready to play after sitting out since Nov. 17 with a knee injury. But Edmonton coach Tom Renney would not confirm at the morning skate whether Potter would make his return Thursday. If Potter does return, he likely would take Colten Teubert's spot in the lineup.
 
Devan Dubnyk, who was in net for the Oilers' 4-2 loss to Coyotes on Nov. 5, will get the start tonight. Former Coyotes Nikolai Khabibulin didn't play in the loss to the Flames and sat out practice this week, as well, although he said he's not injured -- was just resting.

OILERS
Sam Gagner - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - Jordan Eberle
Taylor Hall - Shawn Horcoff - Ales Hemsky
Ryan Smyth - Eric Belanger - Ryan Jones
Ben Eager - Anton Lander - Lennart Petrell

Ladislav Smid - Tom Gilbert
Ryan Whitney - Jeff Petry
Theo Peckham - Colten Teuberg

Devan Dubnyk will start in goal, with Nikolai Khabibulin the backup.

COYOTES
Mikkel Boedker - Daymond Langkow - Shane Doan
Ray Whitney - Martin Hanzal - Radim Vrbata
Taylor Pyatt - Boyd Gordon - Lauri Korpikoski
Raffi Torres  - Kyle Turris - Kyle Chipchura

Keith Yandle - Derek Morris
Oliver Ekman-Larsson - Adrian Aucoin
David Schlemko - Michal Rozsival

Jason LaBarbera will start in goal, with Mike Smith backing him up.

For more on tonight's game, check out the preview here.

ST. LOUIS -- Matt D'Agostini was back at practice Wednesday after leaving Saturday's 1-0 win over San Jose, a game in which the winger left the game after a blue-line hit from the Sharks' Jamie McGinn.

D'Agostini, who called it a good, clean hit, skated for about 30 minutes on the team's off-day Tuesday, resumed working with them Wednesday and will play tonight against the Rangers after taking part in the morning skate.

With the rash of concussions to players in recent weeks, the Blues feel like they may have dodged a bullet.

"I felt very symptom-free the last couple days," D'Agostini said. "They take a lot of precautions nowadays with the way the head injuries have been. Understandably so, but I've been feeling good and felt good out at practice today.

"It just kind of gave me a little whiplash kind of effect, kind of a stiff neck and everything, but the head was fine. They just wanted to make sure nothing more came of it."


Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said Vladimir Sobotka, who was placed on injured reserve Tuesday, was feeling a lot better Wednesday after injuring his left ankle at Monday's practice when he blocked a shot from teammate Alex Steen during a drill. The Blues have said they will re-evaluate Sobotka in two weeks.

Sobotka was still in a walking boot and walking with crutches Wednesday, and Hitchcock said he'll remain in the boot until at least the swelling subsides so the team can have a better idea of what they're dealing with.

"Sobe feels a lot better today, so that's good news," Hitchcock said. "When you get that type of injury, if he's showing the improvement he is, that's a good sign. He was a lot better today than he was even yesterday. I don't think we're going to be much further than the two-week window if he keeps improving."


Evgeny Grachev, recalled from Peoria on Tuesday to replace Sobotka on the active roster, is expected to get into the lineup in at least one of the next three games, according to Hitchcock. The Blues coach liked the role Grachev, who was acquired at the NHL Entry Draft from the Rangers for a third-round pick, played during his three games with the Rivermen.

"One of the things intriguing to me about Grachev is he went down and played a different role down there," Hitchcock said of Grachev, who was pointless in three games with Peoria while picking up 2 assists in 17 games with the Blues earlier this season. "Probably the role he's going to end up playing in the NHL. He got into the 5-on-5, PK, playing against the top lines roll down there, and he was very successful. I think it gives us more of an indication that we might be able to get our hands on a good third-line player over time rather than a scoring forward."


The Blues will go with red-hot Brian Elliott (12-2 with an NHL-best 1.45 goals-against average and .947 save percentage and tied with LA's Jonathan Quick with four shutouts) against the Rangers. But Hitchcock said Jaroslav Halak, who is has a 1.66 GAA and .936 save percentage over his last nine starts, will go for the Blues on Saturday in Nashville as well as Sunday against Columbus.


Both Hitchcock and Rangers coach John Tortorella dissected the game and offered that much will not be conceded tonight between the Nos. 2 and 3 teams in the NHL as far as goals-against per game average.

The Blues, who come in second at No. 2, know the challenge that they face.

"They're hard on the puck. They compete every shift," Hitchcock said of the Rangers. "They don't take a shift off. They don't take a puck battle off. I told our players today they're arguably the best 3-on-3 team in both zones that we're going to play against. They close on you fast. They hang onto it in the offensive zone. That's a challenge."

Tortorella, whose team is coming off a 1-0 loss to Dallas Tuesday, sees a similar type of opponent tonight.

"Dallas was very structured and the same thing tonight, St. Louis is going to be a very structured, defensive-oriented team," Tortorella said. "We just have to stay within ourselves and not make a big mistake and where it's in our net."

ST. LOUIS -- When St. Louis Blues defenseman Alex Pietrangelo got his first glimpse of HBO's "24/7 Flyers-Rangers: Road to the 2012 Winter Classic" on Wednesday night, it was perfect timing. He saw close friend and New York Rangers defenseman Michael Del Zotto crashing into the boards.

It was human nature for Pietrangelo to call his close friend and pass along some text messages after what he heard next.

"Quite a few," Pietrangelo said of the messages he passed. "I told him at the end of the night I couldn't wait to see it. I know his personality and I couldn't wait to see what it was going to be like. The first thing I see is him crashing into the boards and throwing out a few swear words. That was pretty entertaining."

The general consensus around the locker rooms of the Blues and Rangers, who square off tonight here at Scottrade Center, was that the first episode depicting the lives and daily routines of the players and coaches from the teams into the 2012 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic on Jan. 2 was a success.

"We were really excited about it," Rangers center Brian Boyle said. "I don't think I've been that excited for something like that. That was pretty awesome."

Rangers coach John Tortorella was not as forthcoming. He was more focused on his opponent for tonight.

"I'm going to tell you right now, I'm not going to have a running comment on the show," Tortorella said. "We have a game to play here. I respect what (HBO is) doing. We're all-in with them, but I'm not going to get into conversations about it."

Some of the highlighted points of emphasis, from the Rangers' point of view, were forward Artem Anisimov's controversial goal celebration from last week's game against the Tampa Bay Lightning and the aftermath, of him sitting in the locker room as he waits for his teammates to return, and then apologizing after the game.

Teammate Sean Avery was the first to enter the locker room and only smiled. Other teammates had their own remarks.

"When (Avery) came into the room first and it was all quiet, that was funny," Boyle said.

Another memorable moment was the touching scene between captain Ryan Callahan and his 95-year-old grandmother following a game against the Buffalo Sabres, played just 70 miles from Callahan's hometown of Rochester, N.Y.

"The goal was to kind of see it on TV," Boyle said. "Yeah, we do live it every day, but how they portray it, I thought they did a great job. It's going to be something cool to see again down the road."

Many of the Blues players saw it and were impressed with the production.

"HBO does an unbelievable job," Pietrangelo said. "Everybody in here who watches it is a huge fan of it. All of those '24/7's, even with the boxing, they do a tremendous job and it's always fun to watch.

"They know how to balance the family side of things and hockey side of things. People want to see the other side of the players, too, and that's what they're there for. ... A lot of people don't get to see what we're like in the room or away from the rink. I think it's good for the game. People get a different perspective about our game."

Added defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk, who is friends with Rangers Derek Stepan and Ryan McDonagh: "I think it's great. For us, we're used to it as players. We know, obviously, the lives of hockey players, but I think it's pretty eye-opening to a lot of people when I talked to friends at home that they're amazed at the type of guys hockey players are, what goes on in the locker room. I enjoy watching 'Hard Knocks,' and that type of stuff, too. To get a glimpse into our world, I think people enjoy it. HBO does a great job of it."

With cameras following the Rangers around for three more episodes, the Blues weren't looking for the bright lights themselves. They're just looking to be momentary spoilers.

"I'm not really a big camera guy, but hopefully we can kind of ruin the show for them for a game," said Blues forward T.J. Oshie. "But it was awesome. It's great for the game. I think the Winter Classic's really great for the NHL. It gives you an inside look at kind of how close of a family our teams are and how fun it is to play hockey in the NHL."

Here's how the lineups could look tonight when the New York Rangers visit the St. Louis Blues at Scottrade Center:

BLUES
Alex Steen - David Backes - T.J. Oshie
David Perron - Patrik Berglund - Chris Stewart
Matt D'Agostini - Jason Arnott - Jamie Langenbrunner
Chris Porter - Scott Nichol - Ryan Reaves

Carlo Colaiacovo - Alex Pietrangelo
Barret Jackman - Kevin Shattenkirk
Kris Russell - Roman Polak

Brian Elliott
Jaroslav Halak

Scratches for the Blues include winger Evgeny Grachev and defenseman Ian Cole. Center Vladimir Sobotka (ankle), left winger Andy McDonald (concussion), defenseman Kent Huskins (ankle) and right winger B.J. Crombeen (shoulder) are on injured reserve.

RANGERS
Ruslan Fedotenko - Brad Richards - Ryan Callahan
Artem Anisimov - Derek Stepan - Marian Gaborik
Carl Hagelin - Brian Boyle - John Mitchell
Brandon Dubinsky - Erik Christensen - Brandon Prust

Ryan McDonagh - Dan Girardi
Michael Del Zotto - Steve Eminger
Jeff Woywitka - Anton Stralman

Henrik Lundqvist
Martin Biron

Rangers scratches include defenseman Tim Erixon and winger Sean Avery. Forward Mike Rupp (knee), defenseman Michael Sauer (concussion), defenseman Mark Staal (concussion) and left winger Wojtek Wolski (groin) are out with injuries.

WINNIPEG -- The Winnipeg Jets look to continue to accumulate points tonight when the Washington Capitals are the latest visitor in this month's home-heavy schedule.

The Jets (14-12-4) have won eight of their past nine games at home, including their last five consecutive MTS Centre dates. Only the Detroit Red Wings (9-1-0) and Boston Bruins (8-1-1) have been better than in their past 10 home games than have the Jets (8-2-0). Among those wins was a 4-1 decision over the Capitals at home on Nov. 17. The clubs also met in Washington on Nov. 23, a game the Capitals took in overtime, 4-3.

Winnipeg plays 12 of 14 games at home this month and is in the midst of a six-game homestand. The Jets' recent home success has pushed them to within one point of the eighth-place New Jersey Devils in the Eastern Conference.

Coach Claude Noel expects that Nik Antropov, who has missed five of the Jets' past six games, will be a game-time decision. Alexander Burmistrov and Randy Jones will miss their second consecutive games with injury. Noel also indicated that defenseman Tobias Enstrom could be ready for action by this weekend. Enstrom has been out since Oct. 31 with a broken collarbone. Waiver-wire addition Antti Miettinen will not dress for the Jets tonight.

Center Bryan Little has anchored the Jets' top line and has goals in four straight games and 17 points (11 goals) in his last 16 contests. Linemates Evander Kane (10-5-15 in his past 13 games) and Blake Wheeler (2-11-13 in his past 12 games) have flanked Little during the Jets' recent run.

The Jets have not faced the Capitals since Washington replaced Bruce Boudreau with Dale Hunter behind the bench. Noel noted that the Capitals have transitioned from a 1-3-1 system to Hunter's 1-2-2 system, but he does not expect a substantially different look from the Capitals.

"They've changed their systems a bit," Noel said. "I don't think Dale is going to come in and re-invent the game and make it confusing."

Here are tonight's projected lines and pairings for Winnipeg.

JETS
Evander Kane - Bryan Little - Blake Wheeler
Andrew Ladd - Kyle Wellwood - Eric Fehr
Tanner Glass - Jim Slater - Chris Thorburn
Jason Jaffray - Tim Stapleton - Carl Klingberg

Mark Stuart - Zach Bogosian
Johnny Oduya - Dustin Byfuglien
Ron Hainsey - Mark Flood

Ondrej Pavelec
Chris Mason

BROSSARD, Que. -- Both the Flyers and the Canadiens will be missing their captains when the teams meet tonight at the Bell Centre (7:30 p.m. ET, NHLN-US).

The Flyers have been without Chris Pronger for nearly a month due to concussion-type symptoms, as well as knee surgery that would have sidelined him anyway until the end of the month, at the earliest.

Philadelphia also will play its second game without Claude Giroux, the League's leading scorer.

The Flyers are also missing rookie center Brayden Schenn due to a concussion, though he skated with the team Wednesday, the first time since he was injured Dec. 3 against Phoenix. Also working his way back is defenseman Andreas Lilja, out with a high ankle sprain suffered Nov. 25. Neither will play tonight.

Canadiens captain Brian Gionta will miss his third straight game with a lower-body injury. He'll be joined as a spectator tonight by forward Travis Moen, who left Tuesday's 5-3 win against the Islanders with a lower-body injury. Also, defenseman Raphael Diaz is out with an illness.

They'll be replaced by AHL call-up Michael Blunden and Alexei Emelin, the hard-hitting rookie who was a healthy scratch Tuesday.

Those injuries are added to the long-term absences of defenseman Andrei Markov and centers Scott Gomez and Ryan White.

Here's which healthy players will be dressing for the teams tonight, and how the forward lines and defense pairings could look.