Lightning at Blue Jackets preview

LIGHTNING (44-11-4) at BLUE JACKETS (33-21-3)
7:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, SN, TVAS, NHL.TV

The Lightning, who have never had three straight shutouts, have outscored opponents 25-9 during the winning streak and are 7-0-2 in their past nine games. They lead the NHL with 92 points, 15 more than the Calgary Flames and San Jose Sharks, and are 16 points ahead of the second-place Boston Bruins in the Atlantic Division.
The Blue Jackets are 5-1-0 in their past six games following a five-game losing streak. They are third in the Metropolitan Division with 69 points, tied with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Players to watch

Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy has shutouts in his past two games and is 5-0-2 with a 1.38 goals-against average, .954 save percentage and three shutouts in his past seven games.
Blue Jackets forward Artemi Panarin has 33 points (15 goals, 18 assists) in his past 23 games. He needs three points to become the third undrafted player to start his NHL career with four or more 70-point seasons, joining Wayne Gretzky (13 times) and Peter Stastny (10).

They said it

"The consistency in our game has been great. We've been rewarded and our goalies have been very successful." -- Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman
"You need to be aggressive and go after them. If you're a little nervous in the neutral zone and worried about their speed, you're going to get killed." -- Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella on the Lightning

Lightning projected lineup

Ondrej Palat -- Steven Stamkos -- Tyler Johnson
Yanni Gourde -- Brayden Point -- Nikita Kucherov
Alex Killorn -- Anthony Cirelli -- J.T. Miller
Adam Erne -- Cedric Paquette -- Mathieu Joseph
Victor Hedman -- Dan Girardi
Ryan McDonagh -- Erik Cernak
Braydon Coburn -- Mikhail Sergachev
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Louis Domingue
Scratched:Danick Martel, Ryan Callahan, Anton Stralman
Injured: None

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Blue Jackets projected lineup

Artemi Panarin -- Pierre-Luc Dubois -- Cam Atkinson
Nick Foligno -- Boone Jenner -- Josh Anderson
Eric Robinson
-- Alex Wennberg -- Oliver Bjorkstrand
Lukas Sedlak -- Riley Nash --
Kole Sherwood
Seth Jones -- Ryan Murray
Zach Werenski -- David Savard
Scott Harrington -- Markus Nutivaara
Joonas Korpisalo
Sergei Bobrovsky
Scratched:Dean Kukan, Anthony Duclair
Injured: Brandon Dubinsky (hip), Markus Hannikainen (illness)

Status report

Coburn will play for Stralman, who will be scratched. … Jenner (ankle) returns after one game and replaces Duclair … Dubinsky, who will miss his seventh straight game, practiced Monday. … Hannikainen will miss his second straight game.

Stat pack

Kucherov has 13 points (five goals, eight assists) during a four-game point streak and leads the NHL with 94 points (27 goals, 67 assists). … Point has nine points (two goals, seven assists) in a five-game point streak. … Dubois needs one point for 100 in the NHL (42 goals, 57 assists in 139 games).