Lightning at Flames preview

LIGHTNING (26-7-2) at FLAMES (22-11-2)
9 p.m. ET; SNW, SUN, NHL.TV

The NHL-leading Lightning (54 points) are 9-0-1 in their past 10 games and 14-2-1 in their past 17 games. They have scored at least four goals in 12 of their past 14 games.
The Flames, tied for second in the NHL at 46 points with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Winnipeg Jets and Nashville Predators, are 3-1-0 in their past four games and 12-3-1 in their past 16 games. They have allowed two goals or fewer in six of their past seven games.

Players to watch

Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov has eight points (three goals, five assists) in a six-game point streak, and 32 points (eight goals, 24 assists) in his past 17 games.
Flames forward Johnny Gaudreau has 26 points (nine goals, 17 assists) in his past 16 games.

They said it

"These guys are good. They have so much firepower up front and really solid defenders. Another good test for us. We're up for it." -- Lightning forward Steven Stamkos
"It's two heavyweight teams probably going at it right now just the way the standings are showing it. They're number one in the League right now and the best team for a reason." -- Flames forward Matthew Tkachuk

Lightning projected lineup

J.T. Miller -- Steven Stamkos -- Tyler Johnson
Ondrej Palat -- Brayden Point -- Nikita Kucherov
Alex Killorn -- Anthony Cirelli -- Yanni Gourde
Adam Erne -- Cedric Paquette -- Danick Martel
Victor Hedman -- Anton Stralman
Ryan McDonagh -- Erik Cernak
Braydon Coburn -- Dan Girardi
Louis Domingue
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Scratched: Slater Koekkoek, Mikhail Sergachev
Injured: Ryan Callahan (upper body), Mathieu Joseph (lower body)

Flames projected lineup

Johnny Gaudreau -- Sean Monahan -- Elias Lindholm
Matthew Tkachuk -- Mikael Backlund -- Sam Bennett
Alan Quine -- Mark Jankowski -- James Neal
Ryan Lomberg -- Derek Ryan -- Garnet Hathaway
Mark Giordano -- TJ Brodie
Noah Hanifin -- Travis Hamonic
Oliver Kylington -- Rasmus Andersson
David Rittich
Mike Smith
Scratched:Austin Czarnik, Buddy Robinson, Dalton Prout
Injured: Michael Frolik (lower body), Juuso Valimaki (lower body), Michael Stone (blood clot)

Status report

Joseph will not play on Tampa Bay's road trip, according to coach Jon Cooper. … Coburn, who did not play in a 5-2 win against the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday, will return to the lineup in place of Sergachev. … Neal and Bennett are expected to play pending medical clearance. Bennett has missed the past two games because of an upper-body injury; Neal has missed one game because of an upper-body injury.

Stat pack

Point has 25 points (12 goals, 13 assists) in the past 17 games. ... Stamkos, who will play his 700th NHL game, has 10 points (seven goals, three assists) in the past five games. … Monahan has 13 points (seven goals, six assists) in the past 10 games. ... Giordano has 11 points (three goals, eight assists) in the past six games.