Lightning at Predators preview

LIGHTNING (32-12-3) at PREDATORS (28-11-6)
8 p.m. ET; TVA Sports, SUN, FS-TN, NHL.TV

The Predators have won five straight after going 2-4-2 in their previous six games. Nashville defenseman Mattias Ekholm participated in the optional morning skate after missing a 4-3 win against the Florida Panthers on Saturday because of illness. He could return against Tampa Bay.
The Predators are one point behind the Winnipeg Jets for first place in the Central Division.
The Lightning, who own the best record in the NHL, are 1-3-0 in their past four games after going 14-3-1 in their previous 18 games. Goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy made 40 saves and earned his League-best seventh shutout in a 2-0 win at the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday. The Lightning are 9-1-0 against Central Division teams this season.
Tampa Bay has a five-point lead on the Boston Bruins for first place in the Atlantic Division.

Players to watch

Lightning forward Tyler Johnson has 26 points (12 goals, 14 assists) in his past 21 games.
Predators defenseman P.K. Subban has nine points (three goals, six assists) in his past nine games.

They said it

"We've got another great test [Tuesday] against a good team, Nashville, that has some high-powered offense, kind of like [Chicago] but are on a roll. So we've got to make sure we go in and have the right mindset on a back to back." -- Lightning forward Chris Kunitz after the win against the Blackhawks
"They've got some great players on that team. We're going to have to really play solid defensively like we've done all year, get pucks deep and just focus on the little things that have brought us success throughout the season. But it's definitely a good team on the other side for sure." -- Predators defenseman P.K. Subban

Lightning projected lineup

Nikita Kucherov -- Brayden Point -- Tyler Johnson
Chris Kunitz -- Steven Stamkos -- Vladislav Namestnikov
Yanni Gourde --
Matthew Peca
-- Alex Killorn
Michael Bournival
-- Cedric Paquette -- Ryan Callahan
Jake Dotchin -- Anton Stralman
Mikhail Sergachev -- Dan Girardi
Braydon Coburn -- Andrej Sustr
Louis Domingue
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Scratched: Cory Conacher, Slater Koekkoek
Injured: Ondrej Palat (lower body), Victor Hedman (lower body), Peter Budaj (lower body)

Predators projected lineup

Scott Hartnell -- Ryan Johansen -- Viktor Arvidsson
Pontus Aberg -- Kyle Turris -- Craig Smith
Kevin Fiala -- Nick Bonino -- Calle Jarnkrok
Miikka Salomaki -- Colton Sissons -- Austin Watson
Roman Josi -- Ryan Ellis
Alexei Emelin -- P.K. Subban
Mattias Ekholm -- Matt Irwin
Juuse Saros
Pekka Rinne
Scratched: Cody McLeod, Yannick Weber, Anthony Bitetto
Injured: Filip Forsberg (upper body)

Status report

The Lightning did not hold a morning skate; the Predators held an optional morning skate.

Stat pack

Stamkos has nine points (five goals, four assists) in eight games against the Predators. … Saros is 5-0-3 with a .956 save percentage and a 1.53 goals-against average since Nov. 4.