PROJECTED LINES
Lines are from Tuesday's game at Chicago, and subject to change.
Forwards
Ondrej Palat
-
Vladislav Namestnikov
-
Nikita Kucherov
Alex Killorn
-
Tyler Johnson
- JT Brown
Brian Boyle
-
Valtteri Filppula
-
Jonathan Drouin
Michael Bournival
-
Cedric Paquette
- Gabriel Dumont
Defensemen
Victor Hedman
-
Anton Stralman
Nikita Nesterov -
Andrej Sustr
Braydon Coburn
- Jake Dotchin
Goaltender
Andrei Vasilevskiy expected to start
THURSDAY'S MATCHUP
The Lightning and the Panthers are playing their third of four meetings this season and second of two at the BB&T Center...The Bolts fell 3-1 in their last visit to Sunrise on Nov. 7, Ben Bishop making 29 saves on 31 shots in the defeat...Tampa Bay scored a 4-3 shootout victory over Florida at AMALIE Arena in the third game of the season (Oct. 18), Brayden Point netting the game-winning goal in the sixth round of the shootout...Steven Stamkos tied the game 3-3 with six seconds remaining in regulation to force overtime and the eventual shootout...Ondrej Palat has netted a goal in each game this season against Florida...The Lightning are on a three-game losing skid in Sunrise but are 7-3-0 in their last 10 games at Florida...The Bolts are 21-30-6 with four ties all-time at Florida...Tampa Bay is 8-4-1 in its last 13 games overall vs. Florida and is 51-50-12 with 10 ties all-time overall against the Panthers.
LIGHTNING-PANTHERS STORYLINES
The Lightning are playing the final game of a six-game road trip, the trip tying a season long for days (11) and games (also: Oct. 22- Nov. 1)...The Bolts are 2-2-1 on the current road trip...Tampa Bay's victory at CHI was just its third in its last 16 road games.
INJURIES
2016-17 Regular Season Man Games Lost: 151
Ryan Callahan - Lower-body injury (INJURED JAN. 7; ANNOUNCED ON JAN. 15 EXPECTED TO MISS APPROXIMATELY 4 WEEKS ) 8 Games
Jason Garrison - Illness (Jan. 21) 2 Games
Brayden Point - Upper-body injury (OUT 4-6 WEEKS; INJURED DEC. 28) 13 Games
Steven Stamkos - Lateral meniscus tear in right knee (OUT APPROXIMATELY 4 MONTHS; INJURED NOV. 15) 32 Games
TRANSACTIONS
Jan. 22 - Re-assigned F Joel Vermin to AHL Syracuse
Jan. 17 - Recalled D Jake Dotchin from AHL Syracuse
Jan. 15 - Recalled F Joel Vermin from AHL Syracuse
JOHNNY ON THE SPOT
Tampa Bay center Tyler Johnson netted two goals, including the game-winner, Jan. 24 at CHI for his third multi-goal game of the season and 13th of his career...Johnson now ranks second on the Bolts for goals (15) this season and surpassed his goal total from 2015-16 (14 goals)...With his two-goal performance, Johnson passed Rob Zamuner and moved into 11th place on the Lightning's alltime career goals list (85 career goals)...Johnson is on a two-game point streak (2 goals, assist).
