Lightning at Blues: Projected lines; injuries
Tampa Bay looks to get back in the win column and snap its three-game skid on Thursday at St. Louis.
PROJECTED LINES
Lines from Thursday's game against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Thursday's morning skate in St. Louis was optional.
Forwards
Ondrej Palat - Tyler Johnson - Nikita Kucherov
Alex Killorn - Brayden Point - Jonathan Drouin
Vladislav Namestnikov - Valtteri Filppula - Brian Boyle
J.T. Brown - Cedric Paquette - Ryan Callahan
Defensemen
Victor Hedman - Andrej Sustr
Slater Koekkoek - Braydon Coburn
Nikita Nesterov - Jason Garrison
Goalie
Ben Bishop or Andrei Vasilevskiy
THURSDAY'S MATCHUP
The Lightning and the Blues are playing their first of two meetings this season...Tampa Bay has lost five straight to St. Louis going 0-4-1 since a 4-2 home victory over the Blues on Nov. 2, 2013...The Bolts haven't won in St. Louis since a 6-3 victory on Dec. 18, 2009, going 0-3-1 since...The Lightning were 0-2-0 against St. Louis last season and were outscored by the Blues 4-1 in the two losses combined...Nikita Kucherov netted the lone goal for the Bolts against the Blues last season, scoring with 52 seconds remaining in Tampa Bay's 2-1 home loss...Ben Bishop gave up only three goals combined in both games but lost both...The Lightning are looking for just their fourth win in St. Louis and are 3-12-2 all-time in St. Louis...The Bolts are 11-20-3 with three ties overall against the Blues.
LIGHTNING-BLUES STORYLINES
The Lightning look to end their three-game losing skid tonight, tied for their longest of the season (also lost three games from Oct. 27-30)...The Bolts close a three-game road trip in St. Louis...Tampa Bay has scored exactly one goal in each of its seven road losses this season...The Lightning-Blues matchup features two teams in the top seven in the NHL for power play...The Bolts rank third in the league for power-play conversions at 23.3%; St. Louis is seventh at 21.5%...Tampa Bay's 20 power-play goals rank second in the NHL...The Bolts have gone on the power play just four times in the last three games combined...The Lightning have scored just two goals in their last two games combined but still rank near the top of the league for goals per game at 2.92 (7th)...Since the start of the 2013-14 season, the Lightning rank second in the NHL for total combined goals (785) behind only Dallas (814)...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: 39
Current injuries
Ryan Callahan - Lower-body injury (DAY-TO-DAY; INJURED NOV. 29) 1 Game
Steven Stamkos - Lateral meniscus tear in right knee (OUT APPROXIMATELY 4 MONTHS; INJURED NOV. 15) 7 Games
Anton Stralman - Upper-body injury (DAY-TO-DAY; INJURED NOV. 12) 9 Games
TRANSACTIONS
Nov. 30 - Recalled F Joel Vermin from AHL Syracuse
Nov. 30 - Recalled F Michael Bournival from AHL Syracuse
Nov. 28 - Re-assigned F Erik Condra to AHL Syracuse
Nov. 23 - Recalled F Erik Condra from AHL Syracuse
FIL-ING THE NET
Bolts center Valtteri Filppula netted his fifth goal of the season Nov. 29 at CBJ, giving him points in six of his last eight games (1 goal, 6 assists)...Filppula's goal on Tuesday was the 150th of his NHL career and 50th as a member of the Lightning...Filppula scored his first goal since Nov. 1 at the New York Islanders...Filppula ranks fourth on Tampa Bay for points (5-11--16) and tied for third for assists...Filppula ranks tied for 27th among all NHL forwards for assists...Filppula finished November with 11 points (2 goals, 9 assists), the most points he's recorded in a single month since putting up 16 (5 goals, 11 assists) in March of 2014...Filppula is +4 on the road (even at home)...Filppula is second among Bolts forwards and fourth overall on the team for average shorthanded time on ice (2:06)...Since signing with the Lightning as a free agent prior to the 2013-14 season, Filppula ranks third on the Bolts for total assists (103) behind only Victor Hedman (119) and Ondrej Palat (115).
MILESTONES
- Jonathan Drouin is one point from reaching 50 career points.
- Brian Boyle needs one point to reach 150 career points and 50 points with the Lightning.
