Lightning at Canadiens preview

LIGHTNING (21-13-4) at CANADIENS (18-16-6)
7 p.m. ET; TSN2, RDS, SUN, NHL.TV

Goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy is expected to start for the Lightning, who are 7-2-1 in their past 10 games.
Canadiens forward Max Domi cam extend his goal streak to seven games. His six-game streak is tied for the longest in the NHL this season; Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks also scored in six straight (Nov. 7-17). Domi has 10 points (six goals, four assists) during a seven-game point streak.
Montreal, which is trying to avoid its fourth straight loss, won't have forward Brendan Gallagher, who is out indefinitely because of a concussion.

Players to watch

Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman has eight points (two goals, six assists) in his past four games.
Canadiens defenseman Jeff Petry has eight points (two goals, six assists) in his past five games.

They said it

"We've just got to get out of that dipping our toes into the water. We've got to jump in here in these games. I'm proud of the fact the guys have come back but we just can't let these starts slip away from us." -- Lightning coach Jon Cooper
"I'm not trying to replicate what (Brendan Gallagher) can do, nobody can replace what he can do. I'm just going to bring my skill set and not try to overcomplicate things. Those two (Tomas Tatar and Phillip Danault) have been playing together for two years now so I'm just trying to bring my game to that line and see what we can do." -- Canadiens forward Nick Cousins

Lightning projected lineup

Ondrej Palat -- Brayden Point -- Nikita Kucherov
Alex Killorn -- Anthony Cirelli -- Steven Stamkos
Pat Maroon -- Cedric Paquette -- Tyler Johnson
Yanni Gourde -- Mitchell Stephens -- Carter Verhaeghe
Victor Hedman -- Jan Rutta
Ryan McDonagh -- Erik Cernak
Mikhail Sergachev -- Kevin Shattenkirk
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Curtis McElhinney
Scratched:Braydon Coburn, Luke Schenn
Injured:None

Canadiens projected lineup

Tomas Tatar -- Phillip Danault -- Nick Cousins
Artturi Lehkonen -- Max Domi -- Nick Suzuki
Ryan Poehling -- Jesperi Kotkaniemi -- Jordan Weal
Lukas Vejdemo -- Nate Thompson --
Dale Weise
Ben Chiarot -- Shea Weber
Victor Mete -- Jeff Petry
Brett Kulak -- Cale Fleury
Carey Price
Charlie Lindgren
Scratched: Christian Folin, Mike Reilly, Riley Barber
Injured: Brendan Gallagher (concussion), Paul Byron (upper body), Joel Armia (hand), Jonathan Drouin (wrist), Matthew Peca (knee)

Status report

Rutta returns after missing two games because of an undisclosed injury. … Weise was recalled from Laval of the American Hockey League on Monday and Gallagher was placed on injured reserve.

Stat pack

Point has seven points (two goals, five assists) in the past five games. Stamkos has six points (one goal, five assists) during a four-game point streak. … Domi can tie Steve Shutt (Oct. 15-27, 1981) and Yvan Cournoyer (Feb. 26-March 9, 1972) for the second-longest goal streak by a Canadiens player in the past 50 years; the longest is by Denis Savard, who had a nine-game goal streak from Feb. 7-March 1, 1991.