Lightning at Rangers preview

LIGHTNING (48-11-4) at RANGERS (27-26-9)
7:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN

The Lightning matched the longest winning streak in their history with a 4-3 shootout victory against the Los Angeles Kings at Amalie Arena on Monday. They've needed the shootout to win their past two games, but it has helped them get to 100 points in 63 games, tying the 1971-72 Boston Bruins for the second fewest to 100 points in a season in NHL history. The Montreal Canadiens got to 100 points in 62 games in 1976-77 and 1977-78.
Brendan Lemieux will make his debut with the Rangers, who acquired him in the trade that sent Kevin Hayes to the Winnipeg Jets on Monday. The left wing had 11 points (nine goals, two assists) in 44 games with the Jets this season.

Players to watch

Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov has 20 points (eight goals, 12 assists) in eight games since Feb. 10.
Rangers defenseman Brady Skjei has scored three goals in his past two games after scoring three in his first 56.

They said it

"It's tough to keep going at this pace that we are. In saying that, in our last win we got 100 points and to hear that you're thrown in the same breath as the '77-78 Canadiens and the '72 Bruins, when you sit back and think about that, it is kind of cool." -- Lightning coach Jon Cooper
"He scored nine goals this year in limited ice time on a really good hockey team, so there is certainly an offensive side to his game that I'm hoping we can bring out in him with more of an opportunity. He's a guy that was highly coveted." -- Rangers coach David Quinn on Lemieux

Lightning projected lineup

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

Rangers projected lineup

Chris Kreider -- Mika Zibanejad -- Jimmy Vesey
Vladislav Namestnikov -- Ryan Strome -- Jesper Fast
Brendan Lemieux -- Lias Andersson -- Pavel Buchnevich
Brendan Smith -- Boo Nieves -- Connor Brickley
Brady Skjei -- Neal Pionk
Marc Staal -- Tony DeAngelo
Fredrik Claesson -- Kevin Shattenkirk
Alexandar Georgiev
Henrik Lundqvist
Scratched:Filip Chytil
Injured:Brett Howden (MCL sprain)

Status report

Callahan and Sergachev are expected to replace Joseph and Coburn. Neither played for the Lightning against the Kings. … Chytil will be a healthy scratch for the third time this season because Quinn said the Rangers need "more effort out of him." … Smith, a defenseman, will likely play forward since New York has only 12 healthy forwards on the roster.

Stat pack

Tampa Bay is on pace to finish with 130 points, which would be third in NHL history behind the 1976-77 Canadiens (132 points) and the 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings (131). ... Zibanejad has 18 points (nine goals, nine assists) in his past 13 games.