Tampa Bay Lightning News

Vasilevskiy will start against the Rangers on Thursday.

Tampa Bay will return to Vasilevskiy between the pipes for the sixth straight game on Thursday night. Vasilevskiy had uncharacteristically allowed three or more goals in eight of his last nine (3-5-1) before pitching a 25-save shutout in his last outing, a commanding 7-0 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers. Vasilevskiy and the Lightning are slight -101 home underdogs against a red-hot New York Rangers club.

Andrei Vasilevskiy
Vasilevskiy is expected to start Thursday vs. the Rangers.

Tampa Bay will return to Vasilevskiy between the pipes for the sixth straight game on Thursday night. Vasilevskiy had uncharacteristically allowed three or more goals in eight of his last nine (3-5-1) before pitching a 25-save shutout in his last outing, a commanding 7-0 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers. Vasilevskiy and the Lightning are slight -101 home underdogs against a red-hot New York Rangers club.

Andrei Vasilevskiy
Cernak (lower body) is expected to rejoin Tampa Bay's lineup on Thursday vs. New York.

Cernak exited Tampa Bay's last outing, a 7-0 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers, after playing only 12:31 time-on-ice due to a lower-body injury. However, with five days between contests, Cernak appears to be fully healed and is expected to play on Thursday against the New York Rangers. The Slovak defenseman has nine points (1G / 8A), 139 hits, and 83 blocks in 53 games this season.

Erik Cernak
Guentzel (undisclosed) is on the ice for warmups and is expected to make his Hurricanes debut on Tuesday.

Guentzel was acquired in a trade from the Pittsburgh Penguins last week and will make his Hurricanes debut on Tuesday night after being activated from Injured Reserve. The 29-year-old Guentzel has not played since February 14th but was amid another strong campaign, with 22 goals and 30 assists (52 points) in 50 games this season. At the Hurricanes' morning skate on Tuesday, Guentzel was skating on a line with Evgeny Kuznetsov and Martin Necas.

Jake Guentzel
Guentzel (undisclosed) will be a game-time decision to make his Carolina debut on Tuesday.

Guentzel was acquired in a trade from the Pittsburgh Penguins last week and could make his Hurricanes debut on Tuesday night after being activated from Injured Reserve. The 29-year-old Guentzel has not played since February 14th but was amid another strong campaign, with 22 goals and 30 assists (52 points) in 50 games this season. At the Hurricanes' morning skate on Tuesday, Guentzel was skating on a line with Evgeny Kuznetsov and Martin Necas.

Jake Guentzel
Lilleberg has been reassigned to Syracuse (AHL) on Friday.

Lilleberg made a strong impact in his first career appearance with Tampa Bay but has been reassigned to Syracuse (AHL) after the Lightning made some deadline acquisitions. The 23-year-old Norweigan rookie will head back to the minors with three assists,17 SOG, eight PIMs and a -14 plus/minus in 23 games played with Tampa Bay.

Emil Lilleberg
The Hurricanes have acquired Jake Guentzel and Ty Smith from the Penguins for Michael Bunting, Ville Koivunen, Vasili Ponomarev, Cruz Lucius, a conditional first-round pick and a conditional fifth-round pick.

Guentzel is in the final year of a five-year deal that carries a $6.0M AAV cap-hit. The Penguins retained 25 percent of his contract, so the Hurricanes acquired him at a $4.5M AAV cap hit. Guentzel, who has been out with an upper-body injury since February 14th, has scored 22 goals with 30 assists (52 points) in 50 games this season. Over the last three seasons, Guentzel ranks 22nd in the NHL with 98 goals, so he'll provide some serious goal-scoring punch to the Hurricanes' middle-6.

Jake Guentzel
Vasilevskiy will start against the Flames on Thursday.

Tampa Bay will turn to Vasilevskiy between the pipes for a fourth straight game on Thursday night. The Vezina-winning netminder hasn't played to expectations this season and has allowed three or more goals in seven of his last eight starts (3-4-1) but saved 28 of 31 shots (.903 SV%) in his last outing, a 4-3 victory over the Montreal Canadiens. The Lightning are -148 home favourites against a Calgary Flames squad that has recently traded two of their opening-night top-four defenders, Chris Tanev and Noah Hanifin.

Andrei Vasilevskiy
Vasilevskiy is expected to start on Thursday vs. Calgary.

Tampa Bay will likely turn to Vasilevskiy between the pipes for a fourth straight game on Thursday night. The Vezina-winning netminder hasn't played to expectations this season and has allowed three or more goals in seven of his last eight starts (3-4-1) but saved 28 of 31 shots (.903 SV%) in his last outing, a 4-3 victory over the Montreal Canadiens. The Lightning are -148 home favourites against a Calgary Flames squad that has recently traded two of their opening-night top-four defenders, Chris Tanev and Noah Hanifin.

Andrei Vasilevskiy
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