"He's getting closer," Hurricanes coach Bill Peters said. "He's day-to-day. He will warm up tonight and we'll see from there."
Peters said three players were battling illnesses, but he did not believe any of the cases were too serious.
"We will warm everybody up and we will go with the healthiest guys," he said.
The Hurricanes continued their push toward the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a 5-2 against the San Jose Sharks on Friday. Carolina has not lost back-to-back games in regulation since Dec. 3.
"It's a mentally tough group," Peters said. "The mind powers the body. If you tell yourself you're tired, you're going to play tired, you're going to look tired and you're going to act tired. We're not tired. We're in an exciting time of the year."
Lightning players and coaches came to the arena Sunday morning, but only for a picture with their fathers, who are travelling with them. Only the healthy extras skated.
Tampa Bay earned a 4-2 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday. Steven Stamkos scored his 300th NHL goal, and Matt Carle had a goal and an assist after playing 41 games without a point.
"[Carle] is one of those guys who plays a quiet game," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "The next thing you know, he's got 15 to 20 minutes under his belt and he's played a pretty good game. You just haven't noticed some of the things he's done. He got rewarded last night and he deserved it."
Cooper noted the Hurricanes' recent success, suggesting there is little that separates the two teams.
"Tampa is a little higher in the standings, but we both have the same amount of regulation losses (22)," Cooper said. "We've been a little more fortunate to reel in a couple games in overtime, where they haven't. That's the difference in our teams. The system [Peters] plays and how he's got his guys playing hard, it's impressive to watch."
Here are the projected lineups:
LIGHTNING
Alex Killorn - Steven Stamkos - Ryan Callahan
Ondrej Palat - Tyler Johnson - Nikita Kucherov
Cedric Paquette - Valtteri Filppula - JT Brown
Vladislav Namestnikov - Brian Boyle - Jonathan Marchessault
Victor Hedman - Anton Stralman
Braydon Coburn - Andrej Sustr
Slater Koekkoek - Matt Carle
Ben Bishop
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Injured: Jason Garrison (lower body), Joel Vermin (hand)
Scratched: Erik Condra, Nikita Nesterov
HURRICANES
Kris Versteeg - Eric Staal - Phillip Di Giuseppe
Joakim Nordstrom - Jordan Staal - Andrej Nestrasil
Jeff Skinner - Victor Rask - Elias Lindholm
Chris Terry - Jay McClement - Riley Nash
Jaccob Slavin - Ron Hainsey
John-Michael Liles - Brett Pesce
Noah Hanifin - Michal Jordan
Cam Ward
Eddie Lack
Injured: Justin Faulk (leg), James Wisniewski (knee)
Scratched: Nathan Gerbe, Brad Malone
Status report: Paquette, who blocked a shot with his left foot Saturday, is expected to play.
Who's hot:Killorn has a goal and three assists in his past three games. ... Stamkos has a goal in each of the past two games. ... Jordan Staal has five goals and 10 assists in his past 12 games. ... Nash has a four-game point streak (3-2-5).
