Jets at Lightning preview

JETS (39-22-4) at LIGHTNING (50-12-4)
7:30 p.m. ET; SUN, TSN3, NHL.TV

The Lightning have the best record in the NHL with 104 points. They have outscored opponents 49-24 in their past 12 games. Forward Nikita Kucherov leads the NHL with 106 points (31 goals, 75 assists).
Winnipeg leads the Central Division by one point over the Nashville Predators with three games in hand. The Jets have won two straight and are 3-3-1 in their past seven. They have scored at least five goals in three of their past five games.
The Jets defeated the Lightning 5-4 in overtime at Bell MTS Place on Dec. 16.

Players to watch

Jets center Mark Scheifele has seven points (two goals, five assists) during a three-game point streak.
Lightning center Steven Stamkos has 16 points (five points, 11 assists) in his past 12 games.

They said it

"This is going to be the ultimate test. This is the time of the year when you want to start playing well. You have to kind of get on a roll here in March and ride that into the playoffs. You don't want to be limping in." -- Jets center Andrew Copp
"It's going to be a fun game. We know they have a great team with a lot of talented players. It's going to be exciting for us, exciting for the fans. We need to work hard and keep their guys from getting the space to make plays." -- Lightning center Yanni Gourde

Jets projected lineup

Patrik Laine -- Mark Scheifele -- Blake Wheeler
Kyle Connor -- Kevin Hayes -- Nikolaj Ehlers
Brandon Tanev -- Andrew Copp -- Bryan Little
Mathieu Perreault -- Par Lindholm -- Jack Roslovic
Nathan Beaulieu -- Jacob Trouba
Dmitry Kulikov -- Tyler Myers
Ben Chiarot -- Sami Niku
Connor Hellebuyck
Laurent Brossoit
Scratched:Bogdan Kiselevich, Matt Hendricks, Adam Lowry
Injured:Dustin Byfuglien (lower body), Joe Morrow (lower body), Josh Morrissey (upper body)

Lightning projected lineup

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

Status report

Cirelli participated in an optional skate after missing practice Monday for treatment. …Byfuglien and Morrow are on the road trip and will skate later in the week. …Little did not take part in the morning skate but Jets coach Paul Maurice said he will be in the lineup.

Stat pack

Wheeler has 12 points (five goals, seven assists) during a six-game point streak. …Vasilevskiy is 10-0-2 with a 1.53 goals-against average, .952 save percentage and three shutouts in his past 12 starts.