Lightning at Canadiens preview

LIGHTNING (41-17-3) at CANADIENS (23-29-8)
7 p.m. ET; CITY, TVAS, SUN, NHL.TV

Tampa Bay is three points ahead of the second-place Boston Bruins in the Atlantic Division and one point behind the Vegas Golden Knights for first place in the NHL standings. The Lightning are 3-1-0 in their past four games and 10-5-0 in their past 15.
Antti Niemi will make his second straight start in goal for Montreal, which ended a six-game losing streak Thursday by defeating the New York Rangers 3-1. The Canadiens are 11 points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.

Players to watch

Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov, the NHL's leading scorer, has 14 points (five goals, nine assists) during an eight-game point streak.
Canadiens forward Brendan Gallagher has nine points (three goals, six assists) in nine games.

They said it

"You can't take anyone for granted and I think tonight, we know they have a lot of potential up front and we've got to respect that." -- Lightning forward Yanni Gourde
"I think right now when the guys see (Antti Niemi) in goal they really want to do well because they appreciate his intensity level and his work ethic." -- Canadiens coach Claude Julien

Lightning projected lineup

Vladislav Namestnikov -- Steven Stamkos -- Ryan Callahan
Alex Killorn -- Brayden Point -- Nikita Kucherov
Chris Kunitz -- Yanni Gourde -- Tyler Johnson
Adam Erne -- Cedric Paquette -- Cory Conacher
Victor Hedman -- Anton Stralman
Mikhail Sergachev -- Dan Girardi
Jake Dotchin -- Braydon Coburn
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Louis Domingue
Scratched:Andrej Sustr, Slater Koekkoek
Injured:Ondrej Palat (lower body), Peter Budaj (lower body)

Canadiens projected lineup

Max Pacioretty -- Jonathan Drouin -- Artturi Lehkonen
Paul Byron -- Jacob de la Rose -- Brendan Gallagher
Alex Galchenyuk -- Phillip Danault -- Charles Hudon
Nicolas Deslauriers -- Byron Froese -- Daniel Carr
Victor Mete -- Jeff Petry
Karl Alzner -- Noah Juulsen
Joe Morrow -- Jordie Benn
Antti Niemi
Charlie Lindgren
Scratched:Logan Shaw, Tomas Plekanec, David Schlemko
Injured: Carey Price (concussion), Andrew Shaw (lower body), Ales Hemsky (upper body)

Status report

Palat will probably be out until mid-March, Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. … Hemsky and Andrew Shaw practiced with contact for the first time Friday, but neither will play. Plekanec, whose name has been mentioned in speculation ahead of the NHL Trade Deadline (Monday, 3 p.m. ET), will not dress. Montreal did not hold a morning skate.

Stat pack

Stamkos has nine points (five goals, four assists) in his past eight games. Gourde has 14 points (five goals, nine assists) in his past 11 games. Hedman has nine points (two goals, seven assists) in his past eight games. … Petry has three points (two goals, one assist) in his past three games. Plekanec has four points (one goal, three assists) in his past four games.