Lightning at Sharks preview

LIGHTNING (32-7-2) at SHARKS (22-13-7)
11 p.m. ET; NBCSCA, SUN, NHL.TV

Tampa Bay has a seven-game winning streak and hasn't lost in regulation since falling 3-1 to the Anaheim Ducks on Nov. 27 at Amalie Arena.
Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov has a 12-game point streak with 27 points (eight goals, 19 assists) and at least one goal in five straight. He has multiple points in seven straight games, one shy of tying Vincent Lecavalier's Tampa Bay record (seven goals, 14 assists, 21 points), set Nov. 3-19, 2007.
The Lightning lead the NHL in wins (32), points (66), goals (171) and goals per game (4.17).
The Sharks, who are 8-2-2 in their past 12 games, will be without injured defensemen Justin Braun (knee), Marc-Edouard Vlasic (wrist) and Radim Simek (concussion).
Braun was placed on injured reserve. Defenseman Jake Middleton was recalled from the San Jose Barracuda of the American Hockey League and will make his NHL debut.

Players to watch

Lightning forward Brayden Point has 13 points (three goals, 10 assists) in an eight-game point streak.
Sharks defenseman Brent Burns has a four-game point streak with nine points (three goals, six assists).

They said it

"There is no easy time to step into this League, but he's not the kind of guy who's going to be overwhelmed, and as a group we can't be overwhelmed." -- Sharks coach Peter DeBoer on rookie Jacob Middleton
"There's a lot of confidence in the room. Guys are pulling for each other, they're playing for each other. It's a fun group to coach right now." -- Lightning coach Jon Cooper

Lightning projected lineup

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

Sharks projected lineup

Marcus Sorensen -- Joe Thornton -- Joe Pavelski
Lukas Radil -- Logan Couture -- Timo Meier
Evander Kane -- Tomas Hertl -- Joonas Donskoi
Melker Karlsson -- Barclay Goodrow -- Kevin Labanc
Jacob Middleton -- Brent Burns
Erik Karlsson -- Brenden Dillon
Tim Heed -- Joakim Ryan
Martin Jones
Aaron Dell
Scratched: Rourke Chartier
Injured: Radim Simek (concussion), Justin Braun (knee), Marc-Edouard Vlasic (wrist)

Status report

The Lightning did not have a morning skate. … Simek will miss his second straight game. … Heed will play his fourth game of the season. … Braun and Vlasic were injured during a 5-4 victory against the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday.

Stat pack

Stamkos has 20 points (13 goals, seven assists) in his past 11 games. … Pavelski has a four-game point streak with one goal and six assists.