At the Rink: Jets at Lightning

TAMPA -- The Tampa Bay Lightning will open up a six-game home stand against the Winnipeg Jets at Amalie Arena on Saturday with some changes in their lineup because of injuries.

The Lightning (42-20-7) are currently in a three-way tie for first place in the Eastern Conference with Montreal Canadiens and the New York Rangers with the Rangers having played three fewer games. Tampa Bay took three out of a four possible points during a two-game road swing this week with a 1-0 overtime win over the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday and a 3-2 shootout loss to the Boston Bruins on Thursday.

However, the points came at a price as Tampa Bay lost forwards Ondrej Palat and Cedric Paquette and defenseman Braydon Coburn in the win over Montreal.

Palat may return by the end of the home stand next weekend, Paquette will likely miss the rest of the month, and Coburn, who was acquired in a trade with Philadelphia prior to the NHL Trade Deadline, will miss the rest of the regular season and possibly the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Lightning coach Jon Cooper said the injuries are just a speed bump, and center Steven Stamkos said he believes the team’s focus will help them overcome these setbacks.

“We have confidence that we are going to find a way to win, no matter what situation [we’re] in,” Stamkos said. “We’ve built that up throughout the season and we want to play well down the stretch and going into the playoffs. That’s what championship teams do.”

The good news for the Lightning is the return of defenseman Matthew Carle, who missed two months recovering from abdominal surgery. Carle will be in the lineup Saturday and paired with Jason Garrison.

“I just want to try to come out and get back in the flow of things,” Carle said. “I haven’t played in two months so I’m pretty rested. They guys have been grinding it out; I want to help. I want to get my legs back so I’ll be fresh when the playoffs go.”

Winnipeg (33-23-12) trails the Los Angeles Kings by one point for the second wild card spot into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference, and will be looking to end a four-game road trip on a positive note after a 4-2 loss to the Florida Panthers on Thursday.

"We're playing with urgency; everyone's focused on where they are right now," Winnipeg coach Paul Maurice said. "It's going to be tight all the way down the stretch and the teams that manage things the best are going to make it."

The Jets will likely be without top-pairing defenseman Tyler Myers after he sustained an upper-body injury Thursday. Myers did not participate in the team’s morning skate Saturday.

Winnipeg will go with Ondrej Pavelec in goal after starter Michael Hutchinson struggled with 16 saves on 19 shots against the Panthers on Thursday.

The Lightning will answer with 20-year-old rookie Andrei Vasilevskiy, who has won his past two starts.

Here are the projected lineups

JETS

Andrew Ladd – Michael Frolik – Drew Stafford

Jiri Tlusty – Mark Scheifele – Blake Wheeler

Chris Thorburn – Adam Lowry – Lee Stempniak

Eric O'Dell – Jim Slater – Anthony Peluso

Toby Enstrom – Jacob Trouba

Adam Pardy - Mark Stuart

Jay Harrison – Paul Postma

Ondrej Pavelec

Michael Hutchinson

Scratched: Keaton Ellerby, TJ Galiardi

Injured: Tyler Myers (upper body), Dustin Byfuglien (upper body), Bryan Little (upper body), Mathieu Perreault (lower body), Ben Chiarot (upper body), Grant Clitsome (back), Matt Halischuk (lower body)

LIGHTNING

Alex Killorn – Steven Stamkos – Ryan Callahan

Nikita Kucherov – Tyler Johnson – Vladislav Namestnikov

Jonathan Drouin – Valtteri Filppula – Brian Boyle

Brenden Morrow – Mike Angelidis – J.T. Brown

Anton Stralman – Victor Hedman

Jason Garrison – Matthew Carle

Andrej Sustr – Mark Barberio

Andrei Vasilevskiy

Ben Bishop

Scratched: Nikita Nesterov

Injured: Ondrej Palat (foot), Cedric Paquette (lower body), Braydon Coburn (lower body).

Status Report: The Lightning’s lineup changes include moving Boyle from fourth-line center to third-line wing, and Namestnikov to wing on the “triplets” line with Johnson and Kucherov. … Ellerby was called up from the St. John’s Ice Caps of the American Hockey League on Friday. … Vasilevskiy will be making his third start in the past six games.

Who’s Hot: Namestnikov scored a goal Thursday and has two goals in his past four games since being recalled from Syracuse. … Stafford has scored goals in three of his past five games.