Flyers at Lightning preview
Philadelphia has won three of four; Stamkos, Kucherov could return for Tampa Bay
by Corey Long / NHL.com Independent Correspondent
FLYERS (32-19-7) at LIGHTNING (38-15-5)
4 p.m. ET; NHLN, SNE, SNO, SNP, SUN, NBCSP, NHL.TV
The Game
Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov and Anthony Cirelli could be back in the lineup for the Tampa Bay Lightning when they host the Philadelphia Flyers at Amalie Arena on Saturday.
All three injured forwards practiced Friday, and each is expected to be a game-time decision with a lower-body injury. Kucherov and Cirelli have missed one game, and Stamkos has missed the past three.
The Lightning have won nine games in a row and 10 straight at home. Goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy has a streak of 20 starts with a point (18-0-2).
Philadelphia has won three of four and is 9-3-1 with a plus-15 goal differential (50-35) in its past 13 games.
Flyers defenseman Travis Sanheim practiced Friday and is likely to play after sustaining a lower-body injury Thursday in a 6-2 win at the Florida Panthers.
Players to watch
Flyers forward Claude Giroux has seven points (two goals, five assists) during a four-game point streak.
Lightning forward Brayden Point has 13 points (two goals, 11 assists) during a nine-game point streak.
They said it
'I think we have a great opportunity against a team that's been hot. We've been playing well. So we're going to measure ourselves [Saturday] and I expect us to play real well." -- Flyers coach Alain Vigneault
"It's been a little frustrating, but I'm glad to be out there and practicing with the guys … feeling a lot better than I have the past couple of days. You hate missing games, but we've been on a pretty good run." -- Lightning captain Steven Stamkos
Flyers projected lineup
Claude Giroux -- Sean Couturier -- Jakub Voracek
Joel Farabee -- Kevin Hayes -- Travis Konecny
James van Riemsdyk -- Scott Laughton -- Tyler Pitlick
Michael Raffl -- Connor Bunnaman -- Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Ivan Provorov -- Matt Niskanen
Travis Sanheim -- Philippe Myers
Robert Hagg -- Justin Braun
Brian Elliott
Carter Hart
Scratches: Morgan Frost
Injured: Shayne Gostisbehere (knee), Nolan Patrick (migraine disorder)
Lightning projected lineup
Steven Stamkos -- Brayden Point -- Nikita Kucherov
Ondrej Palat -- Anthony Cirelli -- Alex Killorn
Mathieu Joseph -- Cedric Paquette -- Pat Maroon
Carter Verhaeghe -- Mitchell Stephens -- Yanni Gourde
Victor Hedman -- Erik Cernak
Mikhail Sergachev -- Kevin Shattenkirk
Braydon Coburn -- Luke Schenn
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Curtis McElhinney
Scratched: Cameron Gaunce
Injured: Tyler Johnson (undisclosed), Jan Rutta (lower body), Ryan McDonagh (lower body)
Status report
Johnson, a forward, missed practice Friday and is questionable for the game Saturday. …Gostisbehere, a defenseman, is expected to miss his fifth straight game.
Stat pack
The Lightning record for a home win streak is 11 games (Dec. 11, 2014 - Jan. 31, 2015). … Van Riemsdyk has seven points (three goals, four assists) during a four-game point streak.