Lightning at Canadiens: Projected lines, injuries, storylines

The Lightning can make it a perfect road trip with a win over the Canadiens on Saturday night.
The Bolts have picked up three points in two games this season against Montreal. Tampa Bay won on home ice back in December and then fell in a shootout in Montreal at the beginning of January. Following Saturday, the division rivals will meet one final time in Tampa next month.

Lines from Friday's practice. Subject to change.
Forwards
Vladislav Namestnikov - Steven Stamkos - Ryan Callahan
Alex Killorn - Brayden Point - Nikita Kucherov
Chris Kunitz - Tyler Johnson - Yanni Gourde
Adam Erne - Cedric Paquette - Cory Conacher
Defensemen
Victor Hedman - Anton Stralman
Mikhail Sergachev - Dan Girardi
Braydon Coburn - Andrej Sustr
Slater Koekkoek - Jake Dotchin
Goaltenders
Andrei Vasilevskiy or Louis Domingue
Saturday's Matchup
The Lightning and the Canadiens are playing their third of four meetings this season and second of two at the Bell Centre...The Bolts and Habs split their two previous meetings, each team winning on home ice...The Canadiens were a 2-1 shootout winner in Montreal Jan. 4 as Paul Byron (1st rd.) was the only player from either team to convert in the shootout... Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 37-of-38 shots and Nikita Kucherov scored the lone goal for the Bolts in that loss...Tampa Bay earned a 3-1 home victory over the Canadiens Dec. 28, Steven Stamkos scoring a pair of goals, Brayden Point netting the game-winner 30 seconds into the third period and Andrei Vasilevskiy making 31-of-32 saves for the win...The Lightning have lost in four of their last five trips to Montreal...Prior to that, the Bolts had won five in a row in the regular season in Montreal from the start of the 2013-14 season to the conclusion of the 2015-16 season... Andrei Vasilevskiy has given up one goal in each of his last two starts vs. MTL and has given up two or less goals in four-straight starts against the Habs... Yanni Gourde has scored three goals in four career games vs. MTL (but none this season)... Victor Hedman has more career regular season assists (20) and points (26) vs. MTL than he does against any other NHL team... Nikita Kucherov has points (2-2--4) in three-straight games vs. MTL.
Saturday's Storylines The Lightning regained the top spot overall in the NHL standings following their win Thursday and pace the league for wins (41), points (85), ROW (39), goals (217), goals per game (3.56) and goal differential (+55)...Tampa Bay has owned sole possession of first place in the Atlantic Division continuously since Oct. 19 and maintains a three-point lead over Boston currently...The Bolts are off to their best start in franchise history with 85 points through 61 games, five points better than the 80 points put up by the 2014-15 team (37-18-6) through 61 games...The Lightning picked up their 21st road win of the season Thurdsay -- tied for the third-most road wins in a season in franchise history -- and can match the all-time record for road wins in a season (22 in 2003-04 and 2006-07) with a victory in one of their remaining seven road games...The Bolts are concluding a stretch tonight where 18 of 25 games were played away from AMALIE Arena.
Injuries
2017-18 Regular Season Man Games Lost: 94
Current injuries
Peter Budaj - Lower body (out indefinitely; injured Dec. 29) 24 games
Ondrej Palat - Lower body (out 6 to 8 weeks; injured Jan. 20) 15 games
Transactions
Feb. 21 -- Claimed F Gabriel Dumont off waivers from Ottawa; assigned Dumont to AHL Syracuse
Feb. 21 -- Re-assigned F Matthew Peca to AHL Syracuse
Feb. 8 -- Recalled F Adam Erne from AHL Syracuse
Squashing Rookie Records
Tampa Bay forward Yanni Gourde tallied two assists Feb. 22 at OTT for his 11th multi-point game this season and 12th of his career...Gourde has recorded assists in three-straight games (4 total) and has points in 10 of his last 11 games (5-9--14)...Gourde's 14 points in February are the most he's recorded in a single month for his career (previous best: 5-5--10 in Dec. 2017)...Since Jan. 22, Gourde ranks tied for fifth in the NHL for scoring (8-9--17 over 15 games)...Gourde recorded his 46th and 47th points of the season Thursday, passing Steven Stamkos (46 points in 2008-09) for fourth-most points in a season by a Lightning rookie.
Gourde's 22 goals are the fourth most in a season by a Lightning rookie and just two goals from tying the franchise record for goals by a rookie held by Tyler Johnson (24 in 2013-14)...Gourde ranks tied for second in the NHL for goals among rookies and third for rookie scoring.
Making a Point
Lightning center Brayden Point netted his 24th goal of the season and fourth goal in his last three games Feb. 22 at OTT...Point's marker proved to be the game-winner Thursday, his second-straight contest with the game-winning goal and his ninth game-winning goal on the season, second most in the NHL.
Point's nine game-winning goals are the second most in a single season in Lightning history (most: Steven Stamkos, 12 in 2011-12)...Point extended his point streak to six games (4-3--7) Thursday for the second-longest point streak of his career and one game from tying his career long for a point streak set earlier this season (5-5--10 over 7 games from Dec. 2-16).
Andrei the Giant
Bolts goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy has won eight of his last 11 starts and continues to pace the NHL for wins.
Since the start of the 2013-14 season, Vasilevskiy is one of five goalies to collect 35 wins in their first 50 starts to a season, joining WSH's Braden Holtby (39 in 2015-16), MTL's Carey Price (36 in 2014-15), MIN's Devan Dubnyk (35 in 2014-15) and NSH's Pekka Rinne (35 in 2014-15)...Vasilevskiy has given up two or fewer goals in 28 of 49 starts this season...Vasilevskiy leads the NHL for shutouts (7) and tied the Tampa Bay franchise record for shutouts in a season set previously by Nikolai Khabibulin in 2001-02...Six of Vasilevskiy's seven shutouts have come on the road, a Bolts franchise record for road shutouts in a season.