Lightning at Blues
THE STORY: The Tampa Bay Lightning have battled back from deficits to win three straight games - two of them at home. The Lightning now take to the road for two games, starting Saturday against new coach Ken Hitchcock and the St. Louis Blues. Tampa Bay has won seven of its last nine overall, but talented defenseman Victor Hedman and power forward Ryan Malone are still questionable with upper-body injuries. St. Louis has allowed two goals and is 1-0-1 since Hitchcock took over, including a 3-2 shootout loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday. Steven Stamkos had a goal and three assists as the Lightning posted a 4-3 victory in overtime over the Blues on Super Bowl Sunday last season.
TV: 8 p.m. ET; SunSports (Tampa Bay), FS-MW (St. Louis).
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (8-5-2): Rookie Brett Connolly surprised the Lightning brass by making the team as a 19-year-old and he continues to impress. Connolly has three goals, including the overtime winner Wednesday, three assists and is a plus-5. Defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron hasn’t stopped producing, sharing the team lead with Stamkos at 16 points. Stamkos has nine goals and four assists the last 10 games. Goalie Dwayne Roloson is 4-1 in his last six appearances with a .938 save percentage.
ABOUT THE BLUES (7-7-1): St. Louis is last in the NHL on the power play at 10.6 percent, but has netted two in its last seven chances. Chris Stewart, who had 15 goals in 26 games after being acquired last season, has a goal and an assist since the last two games and Jason Arnott scored for the first time in six. Goalie Jaroslav Halak has allowed four goals his last three games. The Blues traded defenseman Nikita Nikitin to Columbus for swift-skating blue-liner Kris Russell.
OVERTIME:
1. The Lightning has earned at least a point in seven straight games against St. Louis (4-0-1-2).
2. The last time the teams met, Tampa Bay defenseman Eric Brewer was captain of the Blues.
3. Blues’ forward T.J. Oshie has five points in his last four games.