Golden Knights at Lightning preview
Vegas tries to end four-game skid; Point game-time decision for Tampa Bay
by Corey Long / NHL.com Correspondent
GOLDEN KNIGHTS (29-21-4) at LIGHTNING (39-11-2)
7:30 p.m. ET; TVAS, SUN, ATTSN-RM, ESPN+, NHL.TV
The Game
The Vegas Golden Knights will try to end a four-game losing streak when they play the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena on Tuesday.
The losing streak is the longest in Vegas' two NHL seasons. The Golden Knights have scored two or fewer goals in five of its past six games.
Lightning center Brayden Point (lower-body injury) will be a game-time decision after not playing in a 3-2 win against the New York Rangers on Saturday. Point leads the Lightning with 30 goals.
Goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy will start for the Lightning, who are 7-3-0 in their past 10 games.
Players to watch
Golden Knights forward Max Pacioretty has five points (four goals, one assist) in his past five games.
Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman has six points (two goals, four assists) in his past five games.
They said it
"There's no better way to get out of a slump than to play the best team in the League. Our guys are fired up about it. You've got to give everything you've got in order to win the game." -- Golden Knights defenseman Nate Schmidt
"On the statistic side [Vegas] has lost four straight. But if you are really watching their games, they might be playing as good a hockey as they have all year. I think they deserved a better fate in a lot of these games." -- Lightning coach Jon Cooper
Golden Knights projected lineup
Jonathan Marchessault -- William Karlsson -- Valentin Zykov
Max Pacioretty -- Paul Stastny -- Alex Tuch
Brandon Pirri -- Cody Eakin -- Reilly Smith
Tomas Nosek -- Pierre-Edouard Bellemare -- Ryan Reaves
Brayden McNabb -- Nate Schmidt
Shea Theodore -- Deryk Engelland
Jon Merrill -- Colin Miller
Marc-Andre Fleury
Scratched: Jake Bischoff , Oscar Lindberg, Ryan Carpenter
Injured: Erik Haula (lower body), William Carrier (undisclosed), Nick Holden (undisclosed), Malcolm Subban (illness)
Lightning projected lineup
Ondrej Palat -- Steven Stamkos -- Nikita Kucherov
Yanni Gourde -- Tyler Johnson -- Mathieu Joseph
Alex Killorn -- Anthony Cirelli -- J.T. Miller
Adam Erne -- 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: Brayden Point (lower body)
Status report
Subban joined the Golden Knights late in their optional skate but Lagace will be the backup. ... Point took part in the Lightning's optional morning skate after missing practice Monday. If he plays, Callahan likely will be a healthy scratch.
Stat pack
Tuch has 14 points (four goals, 10 assists) in the past 15 games. Karlsson has one goal in his past 13 games. ... Kucherov has five assists in his past seven games but hasn't scored a goal since Jan. 12 against the Buffalo Sabres. Vasilevskiy has three shutouts in his past eight starts.