Projected Lineup (subject to change)
Forwards
Ondrej Palat - Brayden Point - Nikita Kucherov
Alex Killorn - Anthony Cirelli - Steven Stamkos
Pat Maroon - Ross Colton - Corey Perry
Mathieu Joseph - Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - Taylor Raddysh
Defensemen
Victor Hedman - Jan Rutta
Ryan McDonagh - Erik Cernak
Mikhail Sergachev - Zach Bogosian
Goaltenders
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Brian Elliott
Thursday's Matchup
The Lightning and the Red Wings are playing their first of four matchups this season and the first of two at Little Caesars Arena...Tampa Bay is 6-1-2 in nine all-time meetings with Detroit at Little Caesars Arena...The Lightning went 2-1-1 in Detroit last season and claimed a 2-1 victory in their last visit to Little Caesars Arena May 2, Blake Coleman (0:16 - 1st) and Mikhail Sergachev (1:09 - 2nd) scoring to put the Bolts ahead 2-0 and Christopher Gibson stopping 22-of-23 shots for his first and only win with Tampa Bay and first NHL victory since March 20, 2018 (4th NHL win overall)...Tampa Bay is 8-1-1 in Detroit since the start of the 2016-17 season...The Lightning own an all-time record of 12-18-1 with one tie in Detroit...The Bolts are 21-2-2 overall against Detroit in the last 25 reg. season meetings between the two teams...Andrei Vasilevskiy is 12-0-0 in 12 career reg. season starts versus Detroit, one of three teams Vasilevskiy has yet to lose to (also: 11-0-0 vs. CHI and 4-0-0 ANA).
Thursday's Storylines
Tampa Bay is playing its first road contest of the 2021-22 regular season and begins a two-game road trip tonight...The Lightning are 11-16-1 all-time in road openers...The Bolts are hoping to avoid starting the season with two-straight losses for the first time since going 0-1-2 to begin 2009-10...Tampa Bay hasn't suffered two regulation losses to start a season since 2008-09...Since the start of the 2017-18 season, Tampa Bay owns the best road regular season points percentage in the NHL (91-43-12, .664), ahead of Washington (87-47-12, .637)...Since Jon Cooper's first full season in 2013-14, Tampa Bay has collected 379 combined regular season wins, most in the NHL over that span.
Injuries
2021-22 Reg. Season Man Games Lost: 2
Current injuries
Cal Foote (Surgery to repair tendon in finger; Out) 1 Game
Gemel Smith (Lower-body injury Sept. 28; Out indefinitely) 1 Game
The Road Ahead
Saturday, October 16 at Washington Capitals
Tuesday, October 19 vs. Florida Panthers
Saturday, October 23 vs. Colorado Avalanche
