Hurricanes at Lightning
The Tampa Bay Lightning have been pretty active prior to the trade deadline, but they are not giving up on a fourth consecutive trip to the playoffs after earning points in eight of their last nine games (6-1-2). The Lightning look to keep alive their hopes when they host the struggling Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday.
Nikita Kucherov recorded three goals and an assist for Tampa Bay in a decisive 5-1 victory over Ottawa on Monday and, after the trade of Ben Bishop, newly installed starting goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy turned aside 39 shots. Kucherov, who leads the team in scoring, praised Vasilevskiy for his performance, telling reporters, “You can see why he’s a No. 1 right now.” Carolina has played itself out of playoff contention by posting just one victory in its last eight contests (1-5-2) after dropping a 3-2 shootout decision Tuesday at Florida. The Hurricanes played without leading scorer Jeff Skinner, as he was sent back to Raleigh to be evaluated for an upper-body injury, and fellow forward Brock McGinn left Tuesday’s game with a similar ailment.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN Southeast (Carolina), FSN Sun (Tampa Bay)
ABOUT THE HURRICANES (25-25-9): Victor Rask is starting to find his touch with points in three straight games after going without one for the previous 14 contests. Rookie Sebastian Aho scored his 18th goal Tuesday to pull within two of Skinner for the team lead and has collected 34 points – third on the club behind Skinner (40) and Rask (35). Cam Ward turned aside 29 shots against the Panthers but may give way Wednesday to backup Eddie Lack, who has allowed just three goals on 65 shots over his last three appearances – two starts.
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (28-25-8): Kucherov has been on a roll of late and pushed his season total to a team-leading 58 points – seven more than Victor Hedman, who is third among NHL defensemen with 51. Dazzling forward Jonathan Drouin set up three goals in Monday’s contest and is tied with Tyler Johnson for third on the team with 39 points. Vasilevskiy has not had much luck in the win column of late despite allowing 21 goals in his last nine starts, and will be spelled by the newly acquired Peter Budaj, who is tied for the league lead with seven shutouts.
OVERTIME
1. Tampa Bay has climbed to second in the league on the power play (22.7 percent) after going 6-for-11 over its last five games.
2. Carolina traded LW Viktor Stalberg to Ottawa on Tuesday for a third-round pick in the 2017 draft.
3. The Lightning have earned points in five consecutive games against the Hurricanes (4-0-1), including a pair of victories in December.