Lightning vs. Devils: Projected lines, storylines, injuries

The Bolts are back in the playoffs, kicking things off in Game 1 of their Easter Conference Quarterfnal series against the New Jersey Devils
The Lightning will look to improve against the Devils after earning just one point in the three regular season meetings between the clubs.

Lines from Wednesday's practice. Subject to change.
Forwards
J.T. Miller - Steven Stamkos - Nikita Kucherov
Ondrej Palat - Brayden Point - Tyler Johnson
Alex Killorn - Anthony Cirelli - Yanni Gourde
Chris Kunitz - Cedric Paquette - Ryan Callahan
Defensemen
Victor Hedman - Dan Girardi
Ryan McDonagh - Anton Stralman
Braydon Coburn - Mikhail Sergachev
Andrej Sustr - Slater Koekkoek - Jake Dotchin
Goaltenders
Andrei Vasilevskiy, Louis Domingue or Peter Budaj
Thursday's Matchup
The Lightning open the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs against the New Jersey Devils in a best-of seven, Eastern Conference Quarterfinals series....Tampa Bay and New Jersey have played twice before in the postseason, the Devils winning both series...New Jersey defeated the Lightning in five games in the 2003 Eastern Conference Semifinals en route to winning its last Stanley Cup...The Devils downed the Lightning in six games in the 2007 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, the Bolts holding a 2-1 lead in the series before the Devils won three straight to close it out...Tampa Bay finished 0-2-1 against New Jersey during the 2017-18 regular season, all three games decided by a goal...The Lightning's lone point gained against New Jersey came in a 5-4 shootout loss in New Jersey Oct. 17, Kyle Palmieri the only player from either team to convert in the shootout (Rd. 3)...The Lightning lost 4-3 Feb. 17 to New Jersey in the Devils' lone visit to AMALIE Arena this season...The Bolts also fell 2-1 in New Jersey March 24...Tampa Bay is 6-3-2 in its last 11 games overall against New Jersey...Brayden Point has recorded points in five of his six career games vs. NJD (2-3--5)...Nikita Kucherov has tallied points in six of his last seven games vs. NJD (3-7--10)...Steven Stamkos has points in seven of his last nine games vs. NJD (6-4--10)...Mikhail Sergachev registered his first career multi-point game (0-2--2) vs. NJD on Oct. 17, 2017 and has points in all three career meetings vs. NJD (0-4--4)...Ondrej Palat has scored a power-play goal in his last two games vs. NJD.
Thursday's Storylines
The Lightning are in the postseason for the fourth time in the last five seasons...The Bolts are 2-7 all-time in playoff openers...Tampa Bay is 8-12 all-time in Game 1s...The Lightning will be opening a playoff series on home ice for the 11th time in franchise history...Tampa Bay owns an all-time playoff record of 62-54, including a 30-28 record at home and a 29-26 record at AMALIE Arena...The Lightning are 25-21 in the postseason under head coach Jon Cooper...The Bolts enter the postseason with 1,152 games of playoff experience on the roster; Chris Kunitz has played in the most playoff games (161) and is looking for his third-straight Stanley Cup, Victor Hedman has played in the most playoff games (65) while with the Bolts and ranks first all-time in franchise history for playoff games...Tampa Bay set new franchise records for wins (54), road wins (25), points (113), road points (53), goals (290), home
goals (145) and road goals (145) during the 2017-18 regular season...The Lightning won its third all-time Atlantic Division title in 2017-18 (also: 2003 & 2004) and finished as the No. 1 team in the Eastern Conference for the second time in franchise history (also: 2004).
Injuries
2017-18 Regular Season Man Games Lost: 132
2017-18 Playoff Man Games Lost: 0
Current injuries
Adam Erne - Lower body (out indefinitely; injured March 26) 6 games
Steven Stamkos - Lower body (day-to-day; injured April 1) 3 games
Transactions
April 1 - Signed D Cal Foote to a 3-year, entry-level contract
In the Nik of Time
Tampa Bay forward Nikita Kucherov became the third Lightning player all-time to reach the 100-point mark after recording 39 goals and 61 assists during the regular season, joining Vincent Lecavalier (108 pts. in 2006-07) and Martin St. Louis (102 pts. in 2006-07)...Kucherov's 100 points were the second most by a right wing in Lightning history behind only Martin St. Louis' 102 pts. in 2006-07...Kucherov finished third in the race for the NHL's Art Ross Trophy and was one of three players this season to reach 100 points.
Kucherov became the sixth Russian-born player to record 100 or more points in a season in NHL history, joining Alex Ovechkin (4x), Evgeni Malkin (3x), Alexander Mogilny (2x), Pavel Bure (2x) and Sergei Federov (2x), and the first to do so since Malkin in 2011-12...Kucherov set career highs for assists (61), points, penalty minutes (42), power-play points (36) and shots (279) in 2017-18, and his 39 goals ranked tied for ninth in the NHL and were one away from his career high (40 in 2016-17)...Kucherov's 61 assists were the fourth most all-time by a Lightning player and third most by a Tampa Bay right winger.
The Big Cat
Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy finished the regular season 44-17-3, the 44 wins setting a Tampa Bay franchise record for most victories in a season, surpassing the total of 40 set previously by Ben Bishop in 2014-15...Vasilevskiy finished tied atop the standings for goalie wins in the NHL, becoming the first Lightning goalie to lead the Leauge in wins at seasons end.
Vasilevskiy posted eight shutouts during the 2017-18 regular season, setting a Lightning franchise record for shutouts in a season (previous high: 7 - Nikolai Khabibulin in 2001-02) and tied with NSH's Pekka Rinne for most in the NHL this season.
He D-Man
Bolts defenseman Victor Hedman set a new career high for goals in a season after registering his 17th marker in the next-to-last regular season game April 6 vs. BUF...Hedman's 17 goals were tied with CGY's Dougie Hamilton and PHI's Ivan Provorov for most this season by a NHL defenseman...Hedman finished with 63 points this season, second most for his career...Hedman's 63 points are tied for the third most in a single season by a Lightning defenseman in franchise history, and Hedman is the only Bolts blueliner to record 60 or more points in multiple seasons (also: 72 pts. in 2016-17)...Hedman ranked fifth among NHL blueliners for scoring...Hedman's +32 plus/minus rating set a new career high, ranked second among NHL defenseman and sixth overall in the League...Hedman enters the postseason having picked up points in three-straight games (2-1--3).