The 33-year-old forward has not played the past two games because of an upper-body injury sustained when he was hit by Devils defenseman Sami Vatanen late in the second period of Tampa Bay's 5-3 win in Game 2 on April 14.
"He's progressing, so we'll re-evaluate him and see how he's doing tomorrow," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said Friday. "He's definitely a game-time decision."
The Devils don't know whether they'll have Vatanen for Game 5. He sustained an upper-body injury in the first period of Game 4 on Wednesday and did not make the trip. He is being evaluated in New Jersey.
"He's not here, so I don't know whether he's going to play or not," Devils coach John Hynes said.
Vatanen was injured at 16:09 of the first period of a 3-1 loss in Game 4 when he was hit by Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov. Vatanen has one goal, seven hits and four blocked shots and averaged 19:14 of ice time in four games.
"Nothing really changes [if Vatanen can't play]," Devils defenseman John Moore said. "Sami is a great player, but we've had a saying in here all year long that it's about who is in the lineup and guys need to step up. I need to step up, and by committee we need to raise our game and make sure we're helping our team win."
Hynes said there could be lineup changes, but those will be determined Saturday.
