Lines from Wednesday's practice (subject to change)
Forwards
Ondrej Palat - Brayden Point - Yanni Gourde
Alex Killorn - Anthony Cirelli - Steven Stamkos
Barclay Goodrow - Tyler Johnson - Blake Coleman
Pat Maroon - Ross Colton - Mathieu Joseph
Defensemen
Victor Hedman - Cal Foote
Mikhail Sergachev - Luke Schenn
Ryan McDonagh - Andreas Borgman
Goaltender
Andrei Vasilevskiy expected to start
Thursday's Matchup
The Lightning and the Blue Jackets are playing their fourth of eight meetings this season and the second of four at AMALIE Arena...Tampa Bay and Columbus complete a two-game set tonight...Tonight's matchup is the second contest in a stretch of four games in 10 days between the Bolts and Blue Jackets...Tampa Bay has played the fewest amount of games against Columbus among all their division opponents so far this season...The Lightning are 1-2-0 against Columbus in 2020-21, the Blue Jackets the only team the Bolts have a sub-.500 point percentage against (.333)...Tampa Bay is averaging 35.7 shots a game versus Columbus (it's highest shots per game average versus any team this season) and 24.7 shots against, the plus-11 shot differential the Bolts' largest versus any opponent.
Thursday's Storylines
The Lightning enter tonight's contest on their longest losing skid of the season and are looking to avoid losing four in a row for the first time since Feb. 20-27, 2020...Tampa Bay is tied atop the Central Division standings with Florida on 50 points and one point in front of third place Carolina...The Lightning lead the NHL for wins (24, T-1st w/ VGK), points (50, T-1st w/ WSH and FLA), regulation wins (19, T-1st w/ EDM) and goals per game (3.51).
Injuries
2020-21 Reg. Season Man Games Lost: 86
Erik Cernak (Lower-body injury March 23; Day-to-day) 3 Games
Nikita Kucherov (Hip surgery Dec. 29; Out) 35 Games
Ryan McDonagh (Lower-body injury March 21; Day-to-day) 4 Games
Jan Rutta (Lower-body injury March 30; Day-to-day)
Mitchell Stephens (Lower-body injury Jan. 23; Day-to-day) 31 Games
The Road Ahead
Saturday, April 3 vs. Detroit Red Wings
Sunday, April 4 vs. Detroit Red Wings
Tuesday, April 6 at Columbus Blue Jackets
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