Lightning at Senators preview

LIGHTNING (29-8-3) at SENATORS (13-17-9)
7 p.m. ET; SN1, CITY, TVA Sports, SUN, NHL.TV

Vasilevskiy, 26-5-2 this season, has a League-leading six shutouts, including three in the past two weeks against the Minnesota Wild on Dec. 23, the Columbus Blue Jackets on Dec. 31 and the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday. He's 10-1-1 with 17 goals allowed and four shutouts in his past 12 starts, and has stopped 140 of 142 shots in his past five starts.
The Lightning, who have the best record in the League, are 5-1-1 in their past seven games and 12-2-1 in their past 15.
The Senators attempt to win consecutive games for the first time since Dec. 13-16. Center Matt Duchene scored seven seconds into overtime for a come-from-behind 6-5 victory against the San Jose Sharks on Friday.
Ottawa is 2-4-2 in its past eight games and 4-8-3 in its past 15.

Players to watch

Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov, who leads the League in scoring with 57 points (26 goals, 31 assists), has 17 points (seven goals, 10 assists) in his past 12 games.
Duchene has four points (three goals, one assist) in his past four games. He had five points (two goals, three assists) in his previous 21 games.

They said it

"It was not to our standard to give up close to 10 odd-man rushes in that game [a 2-1 shootout loss against the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday]. I think combined in the first two games [of the road trip] we gave up four total. That's our standard. That's what we need tonight." -- Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman
"We're excited to play the best team in the League. They're a four-line, six 'D' team with one of the best goaltenders in the world. We have to be ready." -- Senators forward Derick Brassard

Lightning projected lineup

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

Senators projected lineup

Mike Hoffman -- Matt Duchene -- Bobby Ryan
Ryan Dzingel -- Derick Brassard -- Mark Stone
Gabriel Dumont -- Jean-Gabriel Pageau -- Zack Smith
Tom Pyatt --
Colin White
-- Alexandre Burrows
Johnny Oduya -- Erik Karlsson
Dion Phaneuf -- Cody Ceci
Ben Harpur -- Thomas Chabot
Craig Anderson
Mike Condon
Scratched: Fredrik Claesson
Injured:Nate Thompson (lower body), Chris Wideman (hamstring), Mark Borowiecki (concussion)

Status report

White was called up Saturday from Belleville of the American Hockey League and will make his season debut. He will replace Thompson, who was injured Friday.

Stat pack

Johnson has 18 points (eight goals, 10 assists) in his past 14 games. … Stone has 12 points (two goals, 10 assists) in his past 11 games.