Predators at Lightning
The plucky Tampa Bay Lightning return home after a satisfying road trip for four of the next five, starting with a visit from the Nashville Predators on Thursday. The Lightning are 12-3-1 on home ice and had gone winless in seven on the road before shutting out Detroit on Sunday and rallying from a two-goal deficit in the final three minutes to beat the New York Islanders in a shootout two days later. Nashville has won four of its last five games away from home, including a pair by shutout.
The Predators had a three-game win streak snapped in a 3-1 loss to Chicago on Tuesday and are led by captain Shea Weber, who has a team-best eight goals. The Lightning are 4-1-2 since suffering two straight shutouts and could see the return of top defenseman Victor Hedman from a lower-body injury which kept him out the last six. Nashville won the previous three meetings, scoring 16 times.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FSN Tennessee (Nashville), SunSports (Tampa Bay)
ABOUT THE PREDATORS (16-15-3): Nashville has always relied on its defense, but it will need more production offensively to get back in the race for a playoff spot. With seven goals apiece, Patric Hornqvist and Mike Fisher are the top goal scorers up front for the Predators, who finished eighth in the league in scoring two seasons ago when they last made the postseason and currently stand 24th. Veteran center David Legwand has 19 assists and 25 points, including five in the last four games.
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (20-11-3): Goaltending is the biggest reason Tampa Bay has the fourth most points in the Eastern Conference despite not having superstar Steven Stamkos for the last 17 games. Ben Bishop made huge saves to allow the Lightning to come back Tuesday, lowering his goals-against average to 1.96, and backup Anders Lindback has played better than his numbers. With Hedman out, the defensive pair of Matt Carle and Radko Gudas has continued to shine while playing extra minutes.
OVERTIME
1. Lightning captain RW Martin St. Louis, 38, has eight points in the last seven games while playing at least 22 minutes in last four.
2. Predators D Seth Jones, who Tampa Bay bypassed to take LW Jonathan Drouin in the 2013 draft, has 10 points in his first 34 games.
3. Tampa Bay signed veteran D J.P. Cote, 31, to a two-year, two-way contract Wednesday and recalled him from Syracuse of the American Hockey League.