Lightning at Canadiens preview

LIGHTNING (8-3-1) at CANADIENS (7-3-2)
7 p.m. ET; SN360, CITY, TVAS, SUN, NHL.TV

The Lightning have 17 points, one more than the Canadiens, Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs. They're 5-0-0 against Eastern Conference teams, including two wins against division opponents.
Tampa Bay goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy is 3-1-0 in his past four starts. He has a 2.09 goals-against-average and .930 save percentage and is tied for the NHL lead with six wins.
Goalie Carey Price will make his fourth consecutive start for Montreal, which has alternated wins and losses the past six games after a 4-1-1 start.

Players to watch

Lightning forward Brayden Point has five points (one goal, four assists) in his past two games.
Canadiens center Jesperi Kotkaniemi scored his first two NHL goals Thursday. The No. 3 pick in the 2018 Draft has four assists in 12 games.

They said it

"They're a young team. They have a lot of skill. And definitely playing here, it's a lot of fun and it's always been a fast game playing against Montreal. So I expect a good game and hopefully the fans can enjoy it and us as well." -- Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov
"I think that's a team that the whole League knows is dangerous. They've got a lot of speed and a lot of firepower up front and a good solid D-corps, and then a great goaltender too. So we're going to be ready to go." -- Canadiens forward Max Domi

Lightning projected lineup

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

Canadiens projected lineup

Tomas Tatar -- Phillip Danault -- Brendan Gallagher
Jonathan Drouin -- Max Domi -- Charles Hudon
Artturi Lehkonen -- Jesperi Kotkaniemi -- Joel Armia
Nicolas Deslauriers -- Matthew Peca -- Andrew Shaw
Jordie Benn -- Jeff Petry
Mike Reilly -- Noah Juulsen
Xavier Ouellet -- Victor Mete
Carey Price
Antti Niemi
Scratched:Karl Alzner
Injured:Paul Byron (lower body), Shea Weber (knee), David Schlemko (knee), Tomas Plekanec (back)

Status report

Hedman was on the ice before the morning skate at Bell Centre. … Palat did not make the trip. … Byron will not travel for Montreal's two-game road trip this week.

Stat pack

Kucherov has 12 points (five goals, seven assists) in his past 10 games. … Gourde has four assists in his past three games. … Gallagher has scored four times during a three-game goal-scoring streak. … Domi has nine points (six goals, three assists) in his past eight games.