Lightning at Panthers
The Tampa Bay Lightning earned two wins against their Sunshine State rivals in October but will face a much different team when they visit the Florida Panthers on Monday. The Panthers are 7-2-0 in their last nine games, even after a 5-2 defeat at Winnipeg on Friday, with two shootout victories and a pair of one-goal triumphs under interim coach Peter Horacek. The Lightning have been almost as good, boasting four straight victories and a 6-1-2 mark since being shut out in consecutive games.
The Lightning won’t have Steven Stamkos (broken tibia), who has 21 goals - four this season - in 30 career games against the Panthers. Captain Martin St. Louis has led the way for Tampa Bay, recording 10 points in his last nine games. Scott Clemmensen has been a big part of Florida’s surge, allowing six goals in four straight wins, and is expected to start with Tim Thomas still injured.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, Sun Sports (Tampa Bay), FSN (Florida)
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (22-11-3): Defenseman Radko Gudas continues to make a major impact in his first full season, notching the game-winning goal in overtime against Carolina on Saturday while giving the Lightning a physical force. Victor Hedman is tied for fifth in the league in goals (seven) by a defenseman and Matt Carle leads the team's blue-liners with a plus-7 rating and an average of 22:15 in ice time. Valtteri Filppula has raised his game of late with six points and a plus-6 rating over the last four contests.
ABOUT THE PANTHERS (14-18-5): Florida’s offense has picked it up a bit, averaging 2.67 goals in its last nine contests, and has done it with balance. Tomas Fleischmann leads the team with 19 points and eight others have at least 13 after the club's 3-1-0 road trip. Defenseman Dylan Olsen has three goals and eight points to go along with a plus-2 rating in 13 games and Jimmy Hayes has contributed four goals in 17 contests since both were acquired from Chicago for Kris Versteeg.
OVERTIME
1. The Lightning have earned at least one point in eight straight games at Florida (6-0-2).
2. Florida is only 1-for-25 on the power play over its last nine games and ranks last in the NHL with a 10.7 percent success rate after placing sixth last season at 20.4.
3. Tampa Bay D Eric Brewer suffered an upper-body injury in the last game and is likely out for Monday’s contest.