Rangers at Lightning preview

RANGERS (4-7-2) at LIGHTNING (10-2-1)
7:30 p.m. ET, SUN, MSG, NHL.TV

Goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy will go for his 10th consecutive win, which would set a Lightning record. John Grahame won nine straight from Nov. 14 to Dec. 10, 2005.
Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh is expected to play after missing practice Wednesday.
The Lightning will wear purple warm-up jerseys as part of the NHL's "Hockey Fights Cancer" month.

Players to watch

Rangers forward Michael Grabner has 10 goals in 18 regular-season games against the Lightning, including a hat trick on Oct. 30, 2016.
Lightning center Steven Stamkos will play in his 600th NHL game. He leads the League with 24 points (6 goals, 18 assists) and has 25 points (11 goals, 14 assists) in 25 games against the Rangers.

They said it

"I think we're 3-2-1 in our last six games. We've battled back in quite in few. There's obviously things we know we need to clean up and we're working on them. But there have also been some good things and let's bring those good things [Thursday] to a tough building [and] a real strong team, and let's have a good game." -- Rangers coach Alain Vigneault
"I'm not sure how it's going to feel out there. We'll find out around 7:30 when the puck drops. It's an exciting game for me, I think. I'm just looking forward to getting out there, just having a good game and hopefully getting the win." -- Lightning defenseman Dan Girardi

Rangers projected lineup

Chris Kreider -- Mika Zibanejad -- Pavel Buchnevich
Rick Nash -- Kevin Hayes -- Mats Zuccarello
Jimmy Vesey -- David Desharnais -- J.T. Miller
Michael Grabner -- Boo Nieves -- Jesper Fast
Ryan McDonagh -- Kevin Shattenkirk
Brady Skjei -- Steven Kampfer
Marc Staal -- Nick Holden
Henrik Lundqvist
Ondrej Pavelec
Scratched:Brendan Smith, Paul Carey
Injured:None

Lightning projected lineup

Vladislav Namestnikov -- Steven Stamkos -- Nikita Kucherov
Ondrej Palat -- Brayden Point -- Yanni Gourde
Chris Kunitz -- Tyler Johnson -- Ryan Callahan
Alex Killorn -- Gabriel Dumont -- J.T. Brown
Victor Hedman -- Jake Dotchin
Mikhail Sergachev -- Anton Stralman
Braydon Coburn -- Dan Girardi
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Peter Budaj
Scratched:Andrej Sustr, Slater Koekkoek
Injured:Cedric Paquette (upper body)

Status report

McDonagh skated with Rangers extras. ... Paquette participated in the Lightning's optional skate and could return next week.

Stat pack

The Krieder-Zibanejad-Buchnevich line had six points (three goals, three assists) and 14 shots on goal in the Rangers' 6-4 win against the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday. … Stamkos' 24 points in October were the most by a Lightning player in a single month since Kucherov had 22 in March.