WPG TBL 12917

JETS (17-8-4) at LIGHTNING (20-6-2)
7 p.m. ET; CITY, SUN, NHL.TV

The Lightning enter the game tied with the St. Louis Blues for the most points in the NHL (42). They were the first team to reach 20 wins this season.
Lightning forward Steven Stamkos had a goal and two assists in a 5-2 win against the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday and leads the NHL with 41 points (12 goals, 29 assists) in 28 games. Teammate Nikita Kucherov is second with 40 points (19 goals, 21 assists) in 28 games.
The Jets are playing the finale of a three-game road trip. They lost the first two games, 5-1 against the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday and 6-4 against the Florida Panthers on Thursday. Winnipeg has not lost three consecutive games this season.

Players to watch

Patrik Laine of the Jets has eight points (four goals, four assists) in the past four games.
Lightning forward Tyler Johnson has six points (two goals, four assists) in the past five games.

They said it

"This will be a big challenge. [The Lightning] are obviously a very good hockey team, No. 1 in the League right now. We've slipped away a couple, the last two, and this is going to be a really good team to try and bounce back on." -- Jets defenseman Tyler Myers
"We know what [the Jets] have there. We know every time we've played Winnipeg they've been tough games. You never want to see a team after they've lost a couple of a row because they'll probably be a little snarly. They're fun. They're always fun games to play in." -- Lightning coach Jon Cooper

Jets projected lineup

Kyle Connor -- Mark Scheifele -- Blake Wheeler
Nikolaj Ehlers -- Bryan Little -- Patrik Laine
Andrew Copp -- Adam Lowry -- Brandon Tanev
Mathieu Perreault -- Matt Hendricks -- Joel Armia
Josh Morrissey -- Jacob Trouba
Ben Chiarot -- Dustin Byfuglien
Dmitry Kulikov -- Tyler Myers
Connor Hellebuyck
Eric Comrie
Scratched:Marko Dano, Shawn Matthias, Tucker Poolman
Injured: Toby Enstrom](https://www.nhl.com/player/toby-enstrom-8470828?season=20172018) (lower body), Steve Mason (concussion)

Lightning projected lineup

Vladislav Namestnikov -- Steven Stamkos -- Tyler Johnson
Ondrej Palat -- Brayden Point -- Nikita Kucherov
Alex Killorn -- Yanni Gourde -- Cory Conacher
Chris Kunitz -- Cedric Paquette -- Ryan Callahan
Victor Hedman -- Andrej Sustr
Mikhail Sergachev -- Anton Stralman
Slater Koekkoek -- Dan Girardi
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Peter Budaj
Scratched:JT Brown
Injured: Jake Dotchin](https://www.nhl.com/player/jake-dotchin-8477009?season=20172018) (undisclosed), Braydon Coburn (lower body)

Status report

Dotchin participated in the optional mornnig skate wearing a regular jersey and his status is unknown. He's missed the past eight games. If he plays Koekkoek or Sustr likely would sit out. ... Mason was on the ice for the morning skate and passed the concussion protocol test but will not be activated from injured reserve until Monday.

Stat pack

The Jets are 1-3-1 against Atlantic Division teams this season. ... The Lightning have had three four-game winning streaks.