Tampa Bay Lightning News

Merela will take the place of the scratched Alex Barre-Boulet. Merela is yet to register a point in 14 games this season.

Vasilevskiy will start for the seventh straight game and look to extend his winning streak to four games on Thursday night. After a disastrous performance on January 6th, allowing six goals on 26 shots (.769 SV%) in a 7-3 loss to the Boston Bruins, Vasilevskiy has responded admirably, winning three straight and posting a respectable .917 SV%. Tampa Bay is a -134 home favourite against the Minnesota Wild, who defeated the New York Islanders 5-0 in their last contest.

Vasilevskiy will likely start for the seventh straight game and look to extend his winning streak to four games on Thursday night. After a disastrous performance on January 6th, allowing six goals on 26 shots (.769 SV%) in a 7-3 loss to the Boston Bruins, Vasilevskiy has responded admirably, winning three straight and posting a respectable .917 SV%. Tampa Bay is a -134 home favourite against the Minnesota Wild, who defeated the New York Islanders 5-0 in their last contest.

Crozier was recalled along with fellow defender Philippe Myers on Tuesday, but with Tampa Bay off until Thursday, it is unclear how or if they will decide to utilize them in their lineup. Crozier made his NHL debut in the last Lightning game, playing 13:00 time-on-ice.

Sabourin will draw into the Sharks lineup on Monday in favour of Mike Hoffman, who will be a healthy scratch. Sabourin played his first game of the season with the Sharks last week, recording four penalty minutes and five hits in 11:12 time-on-ice.

This very well could just be a paper transaction as the Lightning are off until Thursday. We'll get a better sense of how they'll lineup for that game against the Wild when they return to practice on Tuesday.

This very well could just be a paper transaction as the Lightning are off until Thursday. We'll get a better sense of how they'll lineup for that game against the Wild when they return to practice on Tuesday.

With news that Erik Cernak (upper body) is day-to-day heading into the weekend, Maxwell Crozier has earned his first NHL call up Friday from Syracuse (AHL). The 23-year-old was Tampa Bay's 2019 fourth round pick (120th overall) and is only spending his first full season in the AHL this year after joining the team from Providence (NCAA) in 2022-23.

Cernak suffered an upper-body injury after taking a hit from Nathan Bastian late in the first period of Thursday's game against the New Jersey Devils. Cernak has five points (0G / 5A), 90 hits, and 62 blocks in 39 games this season.

Cernak suffered the injury after taking a hit from Nathan Bastian late in the first period. We should expect to receive an update on the injury and a possible timeline for Cernak's return following the completion of Thursday's game.

After allowing six goals on 26 shots (.769 SV%) in a 7-3 loss to the Boston Bruins, Vasilevskiy responded with a solid performance in his last outing, saving 20 of 22 shots (.909 SV%) in a 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday. Despite salvaging a 6-6-0 record, Vasilevskiy has failed to record consecutive quality starts since December 4th and 6th, posting a .895 SV% in that stretch. Tampa Bay is a -150 home favourite on Thursday against the New Jersey Devils, who are without several star players, most notably Jack Hughes.

Sabourin will make his first appearance as a San Jose Shark as Kevin Labanc is the odd-man out on Tuesday. Sabourin has nine goals and four assists in 29 games with the San Jose Barracuda (AHL) this season.

Vasilevskiy will get an immediate shot at redemption after suffering though one of his worst starts of the season on Saturday, surrendering six goals on just 26 shots enroute to a 7-3 defeat in Boston. Vasilevskiy is yet to fully return to form following since returning from back surgery in late November, posting an uncharacteristically poor .895 SV% and a 9-9-0 record on the season. Things won't get any easier on Tuesday as the Lightning find themselves as +110 home underdogs to the Kings.