Oilers at Lightning
The Tampa Bay Lightning are suddenly in a race for the Atlantic Division title after dominating much of the season, and badly need a victory when they host the loose Edmonton Oilers on Sunday. The Lightning dropped a 3-0 decision to second place Boston on Saturday for their second straight loss and lead the surging Bruins by only two points, with one more game played, as the regular season winds down.
“That was a test and we got outplayed,” Tampa Bay defenseman Anton Stralman said after the setback. “Now we have to raise the bar.” The Lightning are 9-2-1 in their last 12 games and captain Steven Stamkos told reporters the team needs to find positive emotion and have some fun again when they battle the Oilers, who are playing much better hockey in March. Edmonton is 4-1-1 in its last six contests after rallying for three goals in the third period of the 4-2 victory at Florida on Saturday afternoon with three points from Connor McDavid. McDavid, who registered four goals and an assist in the 6-2 victory over Tampa Bay on Feb. 5, has 18 of his 89 points in the last 10 games as the Oilers showed some signs of life during a disappointing season.
TV: 5 p.m. ET, Sportsnet West (Edmonton), FS Sun (Tampa Bay)
ABOUT THE OILERS (31-35-5): Center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has been productive since returning from a long stint on injured reserve, recording four goals and three assists in the last seven games. Veteran power forward Milan Lucic has been kept off the scoresheet in five straight games, but played his 800th NHL contest Saturday, while 22-year-old center Leon Draisaitl had an assist to pull within one of 200 career points. Forward Ty Rattie, a 2011 second-round pick of St. Louis, notched a goal and an assist Saturday in his third game with the Oilers.
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (48-19-4): Tampa Bay’s special teams continue to be a major concern as the power play went 0-for-3 on Saturday with only three shots and the penalty kill gave up two more goals, pushing its total to 13 against in the last 12 games. Right wing Nikita Kucherov was held to one shot Saturday as he was kept off the scoresheet after putting up nine of his league-leading 91 points in a five-game span. Goalie Louis Domingue, who was recalled from the AHL on Saturday, or Peter Budaj will likely get the start in net Sunday.
OVERTIME
1. Tampa Bay C Brayden Point led the team with four shots on net Saturday, but has gone four games without a point.
2. Edmonton D Kris Russell missed Saturday’s game with an undisclosed injury after blocking a shot Wednesday against San Jose.
3. Lightning D Ryan McDonagh has a goal and a plus-1 rating in three games since coming over from the New York Rangers at the trade deadline.