Projected Lineup (subject to change)
Forwards
Ondrej Palat - Brayden Point - Nikita Kucherov
Alex Killorn - Anthony Cirelli - Steven Stamkos
Ross Colton - Yanni Gourde - Blake Coleman
Patrick Maroon - Tyler Johnson
Defensemen
Victor Hedman - Jan Rutta
Ryan McDonagh - Erik Cernak
Mikhail Sergachev - David Savard
Luke Schenn
Goaltenders
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Curtis McElhinney
Thursday's Matchup
The Lightning and the Panthers are playing Game 3 of their best-of-seven First Round Stanley Cup Playoffs series, the series shifting to Tampa's AMALIE Arena for Games 3 and 4...Tampa Bay has won two in a row over Florida after losing the final three meetings with the Panthers in the regular season...The Lightning are 5-5-0 against Florida in 2020-21 combining regular season and postseason contests... Tampa Bay is 17-11 all-time in Game 3s, including a 6-4 mark in Game 3s at home...The Lightning are 9-7 in Game 3s under head coach Jon Cooper...Nikita Kucherov enters tonight's contest with points in three-straight games versus Florida (reg. season and playoffs) going back to the 2019-20 regular season (3-4--7 pts.).
Thursday's Storylines
The Lightning are up 2-0 in a best-of-seven series for the seventh time in franchise history (through 29 total playoff series) and have never lost a playoff series when taking a 2-0 lead, going on to win each of the previous six instances...Tampa Bay is 3-3 in Game 3s when winning the first two games of a series, although the Lightning have dropped their last three Game 3s when up 2-0 in a series...The Bolts are the fourth defending champion in the last 18 years (since 2003) to open the postseason with consecutive wins and first since Washington in 2019...The Lightning are playing their first playoff game at AMALIE Arena since Game 2 of a First Round series versus Columbus April 12, 2019...Tampa Bay announced Wednesday they'll host approximately 9,000 fans at AMALIE Arena for the 2021 Playoffs, starting with Thursday's Game 3; previously, the team announced a capacity around 7,000 for playoffs.
Injuries
2020-21 Reg. Season Man Games Lost: 154
2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs Man Games Lost: 2
Current injuries
Barclay Goodrow (Upper-body injury May 8; Out indefinitely) 2 Games
The Road Ahead
Game 4 Lightning vs. Panthers | Saturday, May 22, 2021
Game 5 Lightning at Panthers | Monday, May 24, 2021*
Game 6 Lightning vs. Panthers | Wednesday, May 26, 2021*
Game 7 Lightning at Panthers | Friday, May 28, 2021*
\if necessary
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