Red Wings at Lightning
The winner will take over sole possession of second place in the Atlantic Division when the Detroit Red Wings visit the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday. The Lightning finished off a 9-2-0 month by shutting out Toronto before the All-Star break while Detroit went 7-3-1 in January after besting the New York Islanders 4-2 last Monday.
The Red Wings have won both meetings this season at home by a combined score of 5-2 after losing a seven-game series to Tampa Bay in the first round of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Rookie Dylan Larkin (15 goals, 33 points) looks to continue his Calder Trophy-caliber season after the break, following a trip to the All-Star Game on which he won the fastest skater event in the Skills Competition. Captain Steven Stamkos leads the Lightning with 21 goals and is three shy of 300 for his career as he remains without a contract for next season. Ben Bishop (19 wins, 2.02 goals-against average, .926 save percentage) joined Stamkos at the All-Star Game and is expected to face Petr Mrazek, who also had a solid first half (18, 2.03, .932).
TV: 8 p.m. ET, NBCSN, TVA
ABOUT THE RED WINGS (25-16-8): Larkin notched three points in three games before the break and is tied with captain Henrik Zetterberg for the team lead in scoring. Veteran Pavel Datsyuk is starting to warm up after starting the season on injured reserve, registering nine points in his last nine games with a plus-6 rating in that span. Detroit will need more supplementary scoring from Tomas Tatar (one point in his last five games) and Gustav Nyquist (points in two of his last 10 contests).
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (27-18-4): Nikita Kucherov has recorded at least one point in 16 of his last 18 games to take over the team lead with 41 – three better than Stamkos. Ondrej Palat and Vladislav Namestnikov played on a line with Stamkos most of last month while Alex Killorn and Tyler Johnson are teaming with Kucherov. Valtteri Filppula, who has picked it up with 12 points in his last 13 games, is centering Ryan Callahan (one goal, 35 games) and J.T. Brown on the top checking unit for the Lightning.
OVERTIME
1. Mrazek, who posted two shutouts in the series against Tampa Bay last postseason, has allowed nine goals in his last eight games.
2. Tampa Bay D Victor Hedman has recorded 10 points in his last nine games and ranks third on the team with 28.
3. The Red Wings are 15-for-15 on the penalty kill over their last five games while the Lightning are 18-for-19 in the same stretch.