Lightning at Coyotes
The NHL-best Tampa Bay Lightning will try to extend their winning streak to a season-high six games when they visit the struggling Arizona Coyotes on Thursday night. The Lightning opened their four-game road trip with a 3-0 victory at St. Louis on Tuesday as Andrei Vasilevskiy turned aside 32 shots for his league-leading 20th win and 21-year-old center Brayden Point scored for the fourth consecutive contest.
Tampa Bay, which also plays Colorado and Vegas on the trip, has outscored opponents 23-9 during its win streak and boasts the league’s top two scorers with captain Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov at 42 points apiece. The Lightning won’t take this game for granted after dropping both contests to the Coyotes last season by identical 5-3 scores, but Arizona has lost four in a row overall and managed only two goals combined in the last three games. The Coyotes have won two of their last three at home against two of the top teams in the league - New Jersey and Los Angeles - but stand second to last in the NHL in goals for (2.24) and last in goals against (3.42). Rookie Clayton Keller still leads Arizona with 23 points, but has been held without a goal in 17 straight games and holds a minus-19 rating overall as the Coyotes open a five-game homestand.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, FSN Sun (Tampa Bay), FSN Arizona
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (22-6-2): Kucherov recorded his team-leading 21st goal in the victory over St. Louis and boasts eight points in the last seven games while Stamkos owns five in the past four contests. Point also had an assist Tuesday to push his way past Vladislav Namestnikov for third on the team with 28 points and linemate Tyler Johnson boasts nine points (three goals) in five December games after scoring once and setting up another versus the Blues. Mikhail Sergachev assisted on Kucherov’s goal and has 21 points overall - most among rookie defenseman.
ABOUT THE COYOTES (7-21-5): Arizona is 1-for-10 on the power play over the last six games and the top three scorers have all cooled off as Keller owns only six assists during his 17-game goal drought. Defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson (18 points) has been held off the scoresheet in six consecutive contests and veteran center Derek Stepan (18) has not posted a point in the last three games. Defenseman Jakob Chychrun has registered a goal and an assist with 11 shots on net while averaging 22:01 on ice time in his first four games of the season after coming off injured reserve.
OVERTIME
1. The Coyotes have played the most road games (21) in the league and are 3-8-1 on home ice.
2. Tampa Bay RW Ryan Callahan missed Tuesday’s game with an undisclosed injury and is considered day-to-day.
3. The Lightning have recorded a power-play goal in 14 of the last 16 games and lead the league at 27.7 percent.