Lightning at Bruins: Projected lines; injuries
The Bolts head to Beantown looking to continue their playoff push
© Steve Babineau
PROJECTED LINES
Lines are from Thursday's morning skate. Subject to change.
Forwards
Ondrej Palat - Brayden Point - Nikita Kucherov
Alex Killorn - Vladislav Namestnikov - Jonathan Drouin
Adam Erne - Yanni Gourde - Joel Vermin
Luke Witkowski - Gabriel Dumont - JT Brown
Defensemen
Victor Hedman - Jake Dotchin
Jason Garrison - Anton Stralman
Braydon Coburn - Andrej Sustr
Goaltender
Peter Budaj expected to start
THURSDAY'S MATCHUP
The Lightning and the Bruins are playing their fourth of five meetings this season and second of three at TD Garden...The Bolts lost 4-1 in their first trip to Boston this season on Nov. 27, Victor Hedman netting the lone goal with 2:39 to go after Tampa Bay fell behind 4-0...The Lightning have yet to defeat Boston this season, going 0-2-1...The Bolts were beaten at AMALIE Arena 4-3 in a shootout on Nov. 3, Jimmy Hayes netting the game-winner in the 10th round of the shootout...The Lightning also lost 4-3 at home to Boston on Jan. 31 despite a pair of goals from Alex Killorn...Tampa Bay has lost four-straight overall to Boston (0-2-2) and is looking for its first win over the Bruins since a 4-1 victory in Boston on Feb. 28, 2016...The Lightning won both matchups in Boston last season after going 0-9-1 in its previous 10 games in Boston from 2010-11 to 2014-15...The Bolts are 6-30-4 with six ties all-time in Boston...The Lightning are 24-50-9 with nine ties all-time overall against the Bruins.
LIGHTNING-BRUINS STORYLINES
The Lightning are hoping to avoid their first four-game losing skid since dropping four in a row from January 3-8...The Bolts have won three straight road games and have picked up at least a point in nine of their last 10 road games (6-1-3)...Tampa Bay is 6-3-1 on the road against Atlantic Division opponents this season...
INJURIES
2016-17 Regular Season Man Games Lost: 224
Ryan Callahan - Follow up surgical procedure on right hip (OUT INDEFINITELY; INJURED JAN. 7) 31 Games
Tyler Johnson - Lower-body injury (DAY-TO-DAY; INJURED MARCH 9) 6 Games
Vladislav Namestnikov - Lower-body injury (DAY-TO-DAY; INJURED MARCH 13) 3 Games
Cedric Paquette - Lower-body injury (DAY-TO-DAY; INJURED MARCH 9) 6 Games
Steven Stamkos - Lateral meniscus tear in right knee (OUT APPROXIMATELY 4 MONTHS; INJURED NOV. 15) 55 Games
TRANSACTIONS
March 20 - Recalled F Joel Vermin from AHL Syracuse
March 19 - Re-assigned F Joel Vermin to AHL Syracuse
March 19 - Re-assigned F Byron Froese to AHL Syracuse
March 18 - Recalled F Joel Vermin from AHL Syracuse
March 16 - Recalled F Byron Froese from AHL Syracuse
March 15 - Re-assigned F Byron Froese to AHL Syracuse
BACK TO BACK
The Lightning are starting their 14th of 16 back-to-back sets in 2016-17 tonight...The Bolts were victorious in the first half of their last back-to-back set after losing their previous three first halves of a back-to-back set.
IN THE NIK OF TIME
Tampa Bay forward Nikita Kucherov scored a goal and added an assist March 21 vs. ARI for his 19th multi-point game of the season and 52nd of his career...Kucherov has multiple points in two-consecutive games and four of his last seven games...Kucherov has recorded 13 goals and 11 assists over his last 14 games...Since Feb. 21, Kucherov leads the NHL for scoring. Kucherov has set career highs for goals (34), assists (39) and points (73) this season...Kucherov's 73 points are the most by a member of the Lightning since Steven Stamkos put up 97 points during the 2011-12 season...Kucherov ranks tied for third in the NHL for goals and seventh for scoring...Kucherov is just the fourth Lightning player to record back-to-back 30-goal seasons, joining Vincent Lecavalier (5-straight seasons from 2002-03 to 2007-08), Martin St. Louis (4-straight seasons from 2002-03 to 2006-07) and Steven Stamkos (3-straight seasons from 2009-10 to 2011-12 and 2-straight seasons from 2014-15 to 2015-16)...Kucherov is tied with PHI's Brayden Schenn and Wayne Simmonds for most power-play goals in the NHL with 15...Kucherov needs one more power-play goal to tie Ryan Malone for 11th place on the Bolts' all-time power-play goals list. Kucherov is tied for fourth in the league for power-play points (15-12--27)...Kucherov leads the Bolts for plus-minus (+10), and since the start of the 2014-15 season, Kucherov is +57, ranking fifth in the NHL.
