Lightning at Oilers
The Tampa Bay Lightning complete a stretch of eight straight road games that has spanned almost three weeks when they visit the Edmonton Oilers on Monday. The Lightning, who lead the league in points (75), are 5-2-0 on the trip that has sandwiched the All-Star break after knocking off Vancouver 4-2 on Saturday as Andrei Vasilevskiy notched his NHL-best 31st victory.
“He’s undoubtedly been our most complete player this whole year,” Tampa Bay defenseman Victor Hedman told reporters of Vasilevskiy, who made 31 saves against the Canucks. “He’s been keeping us in games we don’t really deserve.” The Lightning have struggled in the third period of their last two victories - getting outshot 36-18 - and hope to make it easier on themselves against the Oilers, who are 4-1-1 in their last six games. Edmonton still has a lot of work to do to climb back into the playoff race, and reigning Hart Trophy winner Connor McDavid is doing his best to start the process as he has recorded nine points in his last seven contests - including two goals in Thursday’s 4-3 overtime loss to Colorado. “That’s our leader,” Oilers coach Todd McLellan told reporters. “He’s got to provide it all over the rink, offensively and defensively, and the rest of the group has to follow.”
TV: 9 p.m. ET, FS Sun (Tampa Bay), Sportsnet West (Edmonton)
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (36-13-3): Nikita Kucherov had his goal-scoring drought reach 10 games but recorded a pair of assists Saturday to push his league-leading total to 66 points and career amount to 300. Captain Steven Stamkos notched his sixth point in five contests last time out to reach 60 in a season for the sixth time in his career while Matthew Peca has recorded two goals and three assists during his four-game point streak, posting a plus-8 rating in that span. Versatile forward Yanni Gourde scored for the fourth time in six games Saturday and has 18 goals on the season, tying him for second in the league among rookies.
ABOUT THE OILERS (22-24-4): Edmonton must improve on special teams if it is to continue surging as the team has gone 0-for-17 on the power play over its last eight games and allowed five man-advantage tallies over the last four. McDavid leads the team with 17 goals and 56 points and Leon Draisaitl is second with 42 after registering a goal and eight assists in his last seven contests. Cam Talbot (18-17-2, 3.14 goals-against average, .901 save percentage), who has won three of his last four starts, could return to the lineup after missing Thursday’s contest due to illness.
OVERTIME
1. Tampa Bay C Cory Conacher has scored three times in his last two games, including a penalty-shot goal on Saturday.
2. Edmonton D Adam Larsson (six points in 40 games) is out indefinitely after the death of his father.
3. The Lightning are 4-0-1 in the last five meetings but lost 4-3 in a shootout at Edmonton last season.