Lightning at Capitals: Projected lines, injuries, storylines

The Lightning are in the nation's capital, kicking off a three-game road trip against the Capitals.
Tampa Bay has struggled as of late, dropping three of their last four games. Washington will be playing the second half of a back-to-back after facing the Sabres in Buffalo on Tuesday afternoon.

Lines from Tuesday's Morning Skate. Subject to change.
Forwards
Yanni Gourde - Steven Stamkos - Tyler Johnson
Alex Killorn - Brayden Point - Nikita Kucherov
Chris Kunitz - Vladislav Namestnikov - Ryan Callahan
Adam Erne - Cedric Paquette - Matthew Peca/Cory Conacher
Defensemen
Victor Hedman - Anton Stralman
Mikhail Sergachev - Dan Girardi
Braydon Coburn - Andrej Sustr
Slater Koekkoek - Jake Dotchin
Goaltenders
Andrei Vasilevskiy expected to start
Tuesday's Matchup
The Lightning and the Capitals conclude their three-game regular season series tonight...The Bolts are playing their second of two matchups in D.C. this season...Washington earned a 3-1 home victory over Tampa Bay on Nov. 24, Vladislav Namestnikov scoring the only goal for the Bolts 1:22 into the game on a power play...Tampa Bay defeated the Caps 4-3 in overtime at AMALIE Arena Oct. 9 behind two-point nights from Alex Killorn (goal, assist), Nikita Kucherov (goal, assist), Brayden Point (goal, assist) and Anton Stralman (2 assists)...Brayden Point netted the game-winner on a power play 3:08 into overtime for the Lightning win...Tampa Bay hasn't won in Washington since a 1-0 shootout win in the final game of the 2013-14 regular season on 4/13/14 and has lost five in a row in D.C....The Lightning are 1-7-4 in their last 12 visits to Washington...The Bolts have scored just one goal total in their last two games at Washington...Tampa Bay is 5-11-2 overall against the Caps since the start of the 2012-13 season...Alex Killorn has scored a goal in two of his last three meetings vs. WSH and has recorded 2-1--3 in those three games...Braydon Coburn has more career assists (14) vs. WSH than he does against any other NHL team, and his 16 points are tied for the most he's put up against any NHL team...Nikita Kucherov is on a six-game point streak vs. WSH (5-3--8)...Steven Stamkos has points (1-2--3) in three of his last four games vs. WSH.
Tuesday's Storylines
Tampa Bay continuese to lead the Eastern Conference for wins (39), points (81) and ROW (37)...The Lightning rank tied for first in the NHL with Vegas for wins, second for points and third for points percentage (.686)...The Bolts lead the league for goals (209), goals per game (3.54) and goal differential (+52)...Tampa Bay is off to its best start in franchise history with 81 points through 59 games, five points more than the 76 points put up by the 2014-15 team (35-18-6) through 59 games...The Lightning have scored five power-play goals over theri last three games and have recorded a power-play goal in eight of their last nine games (11 total)...The Bolts rank second behind Pittsburgh in the NHL for power-play goals (51) and power-play percentage (24.5)...The Lightning pace the NHL for road wins (19), road points (40), road goals (110) and road goal differential (+24).
Injuries
2017-18 Regular Season Man Games Lost: 90
Current injuries
Peter Budaj - Lower body (out indefinitely, injured Dec. 29) 22 games
Ondrej Palat - Lower body (out 6 to 8 weeks; injured Jan. 20) 13 games
Transactions
Feb. 8 - Recalled F Adam Erne from AHL Syracuse
Feb. 6 - Re-assigned F Michael Bournival to AHL Syracuse
In the Nik of Time
Tampa Bay right winger Nikita Kucherov tallied an assist Feb. 17 vs. NJD to extend his current point streak to six games, his third longest of the season (also had an 11-game point streak from Oct. 6-26 and a 10-game point streak from Dec. 9-31)...Kucherov has recorded four goals and seven assists over his current six-game point streak...Kucherov put up 11 shots on Saturday, the most by a Lightning player this season (previous high: 9, Victor Hedman, 12/21 vs. OTT) and a career high for Kucherov (previous high: 9, 2/19/17 at COL)...With his 46th assist Saturday, Kucherov established a new career high for assists in a season (previous high: 45 in 2016-17)...Kucherov (77 points this season) needs eight more points to match his career high for scoring set last season (85 points)...Kucherov has led the NHL for scoring continuously since Dec. 12.
Kucherov has scored four goals in his last six games and has recorded 30 or more goals for the third-straight season...Kucherov is one of five Lightning players all-time to record multiple 30-goal seasons, joining Martin St. Louis (6), Steven Stamkos (5), Vincent Lecavalier (5) and Freddy Modin (2)...Kucherov ranks third in the NHL for goals and first for even-strength goals (26).
Stammer Time
Lightning captain Steven Stamkos netted his 24th goal of the season -- and 14th power-play goal -- Feb. 17 vs. NJD...Stamkos has tallied three goals over his last two games, two of them coming on the power play...Stamkos ranks second in the NHL for power-play goals.
Stamkos has recorded five goals (and 3 assists) in his last six games...Stamkos' 44 assists are tied for the second most he's recorded in a season (46 in 2010-11 and 44 in 2009-10)...Stamkos ranks tied for fifth in the NHL for scoring and 10th for assists.