When:Saturday, February 28 - 7 p.m. ET
Where:Amalie Arena - Tampa, FL
TV coverage: FOX Sports Sun (check local listings)
Radio coverage: 970 WFLA-AM,
Lightning Power Play
Where to stream it:
FOX Sports GO
,
NHL.TV
Lines from Thursday's game (subject to change)
Forwards
Ondrej Palat - Brayden Point - Blake Coleman
Alex Killorn - Tyler Johnson - Steven Stamkos
Barclay Goodrow - Yanni Gourde - Mathieu Joseph
Pat Maroon - Gemel Smith - Alexander Volkov
Defensemen
Victor Hedman - Mikhail Sergachev
Ryan McDonagh - Erik Cernak
Jan Rutta - Cal Foote
Goaltenders
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Curtis McElhinney
Saturday's Matchup
The Lightning and the Stars are playing their first of eight meetings this season...Tampa Bay and Dallas have had four previous meetings postponed and rescheduled due to COVID-19 concerns in the Stars' training camp (Jan. 17 &19 at AMALIE Arena) and inclement weather throughout the state of Texas (Feb. 18 &20 at American Airlines Center)...Tonight's matchup is the start of a two-game set for the Lightning against the Stars, the teams traveling to Dallas to conclude the series Tuesday, March 2...Tampa Bay and Dallas are playing for the first time since meeting in the 2020 Stanley Cup Final, a series the Lightning won in six games to earn the second Stanley Cup championship in franchise history (also: 2004)...The Lightning concluded the Cup Final with a 2-0 win Sept. 28, 2020, Bradyen Point scoring the game-winning goal (PP 12:23 - 1st), Blake Coleman adding a marker (7:01 - 2nd) and Andrei Vasilevskiy stopping all 22 shots he faced for his first career postseason shutout...The Lightning went 0-0-2 versus Dallas in the 2019-20 regular season...Tampa Bay is on an eight-game point streak versus the Stars (5-0-3)...The Lightning have won five of their last seven over the Stars in the regular season...The Bolts are on a four-game point streak at home versus Dallas (3-0-1)...Pat Maroon scored a 2OT GWG in Game 7 of a 2019 Western Conference Second Round series between St. Louis and Dallas at Enterprise Center to send the Blues into the Western Conference Final en route to their first Stanley Cup.
Saturday's Storylines
The Lightning conclude a three-game homestand tonight...Tampa Bay has won two straight at AMALIE Arena and nine of 10 home games overall this season...The Bolts own the second-best home point percentage in the NHL (.889) behind only the New York Islanders (.929)... The Lightning lead the Central Division on point percentage (.750) and rank second overall in the NHL behind only Toronto (.762)...Tampa Bay paces the NHL with a +25 goal differential (2nd - TOR +19)...The Lightning rank second in the NHL for both goals scored per game at 3.56 (1st - EDM 3.59) and fewest goals allowed per game at 2.17 (1st - VGK - 2.06).
Injuries
2020-21 Reg. Season Man Games Lost: 42
Anthony Cirelli (Upper-body injury; Week-to-week) 6 Games
Nikita Kucherov (Hip surgery Dec. 29; Out) 18 Games
Mitchell Stephens (Lower-body injury; Out indefinitely) 14 Games
The Road Ahead
Tuesday, March 2 at Dallas Stars
Thursday, March 4 at Chicago Blackhawks
Friday, March 5 at Dallas Stars
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