PROJECTED LINES
Lines from Tuesday's morning skate.
Forwards
Ondrej Palat - Tyler Johnson - Nikita Kucherov
Alex Killorn - Brayden Point - Jonathan Drouin
Vladislav Namestnikov - Valtteri Filppula - Brian Boyle
JT Brown - Cedric Paquette - Ryan Callahan
Defensemen
Victor Hedman - Andrej Sustr
Slater Koekkoek - Braydon Coburn
Nikita Nesterov - Jason Garrison
Goalie
Andrei Vasilevskiy expected to start
TUESDAY'S MATCHUP
Tampa Bay and Columbus are playing their second of three meetings this season and only meeting at Nationwide Arena...The Bolts and Blue Jackets played four days earlier, Columbus winning 5-3...Nikita Kucherov and Ondrej Palat each had a goal and an assist for the Bolts in that defeat...Columbus' victory on Nov. 25 ended a four-game winning streak for the Bolts over the Blue Jackets...The Lightning have won six of the last eight in the series...Tampa Bay has won seven of its last eight games in Columbus and is 9-2-0 overall at Nationwide Arena...The Lightning are 14-8-0 with one tie overall versus Columbus.
LIGHTNING-BLUE JACKETS STORYLINES
The Blue Jackets are coached by former Lightning head coach John Tortorella, who guided Tampa Bay to its only Stanley Cup (2004)...Tortorella compiled a record of 239-222-38 with 36 ties during his seven seasons in Tampa Bay...Also, Lightning assistant coach Todd Richards squares off against his former team tonight...Richards went 127-112-21 in five seasons as the Blue Jackets' head coach...Tonight's game features two of the best power-play units in the NHL with Columbus leading the league for power-play conversion rate (28.3%) and the Lightning ranking fourth (23.5%)...Tampa Bay is tied with Philadelphia for most power-play goals in the NHL (20)...Tonight's game also will see two of the higher-scoring teams in the league face off against one another as Columbus ranks fourth for goals per game (3.10) and the Lightning sixth (3.00)...Since the start of the 2013-14 season, the Lightning rank second in the NHL for total combined goals (784) behind only Dallas (810)...Tampa Bay's seven road victories are tied for most in the league so far this season.
INJURIES
2016-17 Regular Season Man Games Lost: 36
Current injuries
J.T. Brown - Upper-body injury (DAY-TO-DAY; INJURED NOV. 23) 3 Games
Steven Stamkos - Lateral Meniscus tear in right knee (OUT APPROXIMATELY 4 MONTHS; INJURED NOV. 15) 6 Games
Anton Stralman - Upper-body injury (DAY-TO-DAY; INJURED NOV. 12) 8 Games
TRANSACTIONS
Nov. 23 - Recalled F Erik Condra from AHL Syracuse
Nov. 22 - Re-assigned F Erik Condra to AHL Syracuse
Nov. 21 - Recalled F Erik Condra from AHL Syracuse
Nov. 14 - Recalled D Luke Witkowski from AHL Syracuse
IN THE NIK OF TIME
Tampa Bay forward Nikita Kucherov has recorded 18 points in November, more than any other NHL player for the month...Kucherov's 10 goals in November are second to only PIT's Sidney Crosby (11)...Per the Elias Sports Bureau, Kucherov needs two more goals in November to tie Steven Stamkos for most goals all-time in franchise history in November (12 in 2010)...Also per Elias, Kucherov's 18 points in November are the most in that month since Steven Stamkos recorded 21 and Martin St. Louis 19 in November 2010...Kucherov leads the Lightning and ranks second in the NHL for scoring (11-15--26) behind only EDM's Connor McDavid (10-19-29)...Kucherov has points in six of his last eight games (6 goals, 4 assists) and 11 of his last 15 games (10 goals, 9 assists)...Kucherov ranks tied for third in the league for assists and tied for seventh for goals...Kucherov leads the Bolts and is tied for sixth in the NHL for plus-minus (+12)...Since the start of the 2014-15 season, Kucherov owns a +59 rating, the third best plus-minus in the NHL over that time.
