Stars at Lightning
The Tampa Bay Lightning will go for their franchise-record 26th victory on home ice when the Dallas Stars pay a visit on Saturday. The Lightning improved to 25-6-1 - including 14 wins in the last 16 games - at Amalie Arena with a 4-2 triumph over Toronto on Thursday. “We want it to be a tough place to play,” Lightning forward Ryan Callahan told reporters. “We want teams to come in here and know we are good at home and they’re going to get our best - and so far this (season) we have done that.”
Dallas has won two straight as it attempts to stay in striking distance for a wild-card spot on the Western Conference, and will need to step up defensively down the stretch. The Stars are near the bottom of the league in goals-against and face the NHL’s most-productive offense, led by Tyler Johnson (63 points) and captain Steven Stamkos (36 goals). Dallas has allowed 34 goals in its last eight contests, going 2-4-2 in that span.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN Southwest (Dallas), Sun Sports (Tampa Bay)
ABOUT THE STARS (29-26-10): All-Star Tyler Seguin, who has missed 10 straight games with a lower-body injury, skated with the team Thursday and is closing in on a return. Dallas matches Tampa Bay with three players boasting at least 50 points, including captain Jamie Benn (61), Seguin (59) and Jason Spezza (52). Goalie Kari Lehtonen was pulled in Thursday’s 4-3 shootout victory at Florida and has let in 19 goals over his last five outings (.850 save percentage), which could net Jhonas Enroth the start on Saturday.
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (40-20-6): Stamkos had a pair of assists in Thursday’s victory to increase his total to 15 points over the last 14 games while Callahan has posted three goals in the last four contests. Nikita Kucherov is tied for second behind Stamkos with 24 goals and is second in the NHL with a plus-33 rating, just ahead of linemates Johnson (24 goals, plus-31) and Ondrej Palat (plus-28). Ben Bishop, who is fourth in the league with 32 wins, is 5-1-0 while allowing 11 total goals in his last six outings.
OVERTIME
1. The Lightning are 6-1-2 in their last nine games against Dallas, including a 5-3 victory on Feb. 5.
2. Spezza registered 20 goals – seven on the power play – and 49 points in 37 career games against Tampa Bay.
3. Tampa Bay has scored a league-high 83 goals in the third period and Dallas owns the most in the second with 82.