Lightning at Stars preview
Vasilevskiy tries to win 11th straight for Tampa Bay; Heiskanen, Faksa returning for Dallas
by Josh Clark / NHL.com Independent Correspondent
LIGHTNING (29-15-4) at STARS (27-17-4)
8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, SNE, SNO, SNW
The Game
Goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy will try for a new NHL career-long winning streak when the Tampa Bay Lightning play the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center on Monday.
Vasilevskiy is 10-0-0 with a 1.69 goals-against average and .946 save percentage in his past 10 games. He matched his previous NHL best of 10 straight from Feb. 9-March 5, 2019 in a 7-1 win against the Winnipeg Jets on Jan. 17.
The Lightning are 12-2-0 and have outscored opponents 56-27 in their past 14 games. This is their third game in a season-long six-game road trip.
The Stars are 1-3-0 in their past four games after a six-game winning streak. Defenseman Miro Heiskanen (one game) and forward Radek Faksa (three games) will each return to the lineup after missing time because of upper-body injuries.
Players to watch
Lightning forward Anthony Cirelli has six points (three goals, three assists) during a three-game point streak.
Stars goalie Ben Bishop is 4-1-0 with a 1.94 goals-against average, .939 save percentage and one shutout in his past six games.
They said it
"We've been kind of out of the hockey realm here for 10 days, so you have to get the guys back into it. We have to get back to our habits, our game plan, and what makes us successful. Now it's just about hitting bodies and doing all of the gritty things you have to do. We just have to get that fight mentality back into us." -- Lightning coach Jon Cooper
"When they're on top of their game one's not better than the other, they're both great goalies and that's why they're in the high regard that everyone holds them in. They're both great goaltenders and great people too. They're competitive, hardworking and good teammates. It's good to see those guys get rewarded with the attention they're getting. It's deserved." -- Stars coach Rick Bowness on Dallas goalie Ben Bishop and Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy
Lightning projected lineup
Steven Stamkos -- Brayden Point -- Nikita Kucherov
Ondrej Palat -- Anthony Cirelli -- Tyler Johnson
Pat Maroon -- Cedric Paquette -- Alex Killorn
Carter Verhaeghe -- Mitchell Stephens -- Yanni Gourde
Victor Hedman -- Jan Rutta
Ryan McDonagh -- Erik Cernak
Mikhail Sergachev -- Kevin Shattenkirk
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Curtis McElhinney
Scratched: Braydon Coburn, Luke Schenn
Injured: None
Stars projected lineup
Jamie Benn -- Tyler Seguin -- Alexander Radulov
Denis Gurianov -- Joe Pavelski -- Roope Hintz
Andrew Cogliano -- Radek Faksa -- Blake Comeau
Mattias Janmark -- Jason Dickinson -- Corey Perry
Esa Lindell -- John Klingberg
Miro Heiskanen -- Roman Polak
Jamie Oleksiak -- Stephen Johns
Ben Bishop
Anton Khudobin
Scratched: Justin Dowling, Taylor Fedun, Andrej Sekera
Injured: None
Status report
Stephens was recalled from Syracuse of the American Hockey League on Monday along with Schenn, a defenseman.
Stat pack
Kucherov has scored five goals during a three-game goal streak. … Seguin has 22 points (eight goals, 14 assists) in 23 games against the Lightning.