Tampa Bay will turn to Vasilevskiy for the eighth straight game as they search for their fourth consecutive victory. Vasilevskiy has played well lately, allowing three or fewer goals in five of his last six, including saving 47 of 50 shots (.940 SV%) in his last outing, a 5-3 win over the Florida Panthers. Tampa Bay enters action as a +116 road underdog against the Vegas Golden Knights.
Atkinson joins a group of notable veteran healthy scratches for the Flyers, including Sean Couturier and Marc Staal. Atkinson has been held without a point in 16 straight games.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Atkinson has been held without a point in 15 consecutive contests and will be a healthy scratch on Tuesday against the San Jose Sharks. Dennis Gurianov is expected to make his Flyers debut in Atkinson's absence.
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.
Crozier was the odd man out of Tampa Bay's roster after their trade deadline acquisitions and will head back to Syracuse (AHL) on Friday. The 23-year-old rookie did well in his first NHL showing, with two assists, seven PIMs and a -2 plus/minus in 13 games played.
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.
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.
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.
