Kucherov was run over by Brayden Schenn on Tuesday night and will miss Thursday's game with an upper-body injury. Cory Conacher will replace Kucherov in Chicago. There's no indication how long Kucherov is expected to be sidelined.
Santini, who was acquired in the P.K. Subban trade, has been in Milwaukee all season. The 24-year-old has five assists in 17 AHL games and 21 points (5G / 16A) in 114 career NHL games.
Vasilevskiy allowed three goals on 23 shots in the Lightning's win over the Rangers on Thursday. Vaislevksiy has won two in a row and enters play at 7-4-0 with a 3.01 GAA and .902 SV% on the season. Those are very un-Vasilevskiy-like but he appears to be settling into a groove. Saturday's matchup comes against a Jets team that is struggling to find offence consistently, so make sure Vasilevskiy is active in all formats.
Vasilevskiy allowed two goals on 22 shots in the Lightning's win over the Sabres in Sweden. It's been nearly one week since his last start, so Vasilskiy is well-rested coming into Thursday's matchup vs. the Rangers. New York has rarely played on the road early in the season but is 3-2-0 while scoring 2.80 goals per game outside of Madison Square Garden.
The Lightning are in Sweden to face the Sabres in the Global Series, so Hedman will enjoy a homecoming in his return to the lineup. Hedman missed just two games with a lower-body injury and will look to build off of a strong month of October, where he tallied two goals and seven assists (nine points) in 11 games.
Vasilevskiy gave up four goals on 25 shots in the Lightning's loss to the Islanders last Saturday. He has looked very un-Vasilevskiy in his last four appearances, going 1-3-0 with a 3.82 GAA and .884 SV%. Today he faces the Sabres in Sweden, a team he is 3-0-1 against in the last two seasons and a team that is 17th goal-scoring (2.93 GF/gm) and 22nd in shots on goal (30.0 SOG/gm).
Cernak was a late-scratch in New Jersey on Wednesday and is listed as a game-time decision for Friday's game vs. the Islanders. Cernak doesn't provide a lot of offence (1G / 0A) but has solid peripheral stats (3.2 hits/gm and 1.7 blocks/gm).
Vasilevskiy gave up three goals on 41 shots in the Lightning's loss in New York on Tuesday. Curtis McElhinney got the nod the following night, so Vasilevskiy will close Tampa Bay's week out with a start in Brooklyn. He hasn't been all that impressive yet, going 4-2-0 with a. 2.98 GAA and. 911 SV% in his last six outings.
Hedman left Tuesday’s game in the first period after sustaining a lower-body injury and will not be available in the second game of the Lightning’s back-to-back. Jan Rutta is expected to replace Hedman on the back-end.
Hedman was forced to leave Tuesday's game after playing just 6:37 TOI. While he hasn't been officially ruled out, it seems unlikely that Hedman will be available for Wednesday's game in New Jersey. Expect Jan Rutta to draw in for Hedman.
Cirelli was listed as a game-time decision and is not on the ice for warmups. Carter Verhaeghe will replace him in the Lightning's lineup.
Point was listed as a game-time decision but looks like he is good-to-go vs. the Rangers. Point has just one assist in his last three games but six points (3G / 3A) in seven games this season.
Cirelli was not on the ice for the Lightning's morning skate and head coach Jon Cooper called him a game-time decision. Monitor his status as the Lightning hit the ice for warmups at 7:00 pm.
Point was not on the ice for the Lightning's morning skate and head coach Jon Cooper called him a game-time decision. Monitor his status as the Lightning hit the ice for warmups at 7:00 pm.
Vasilevskiy allowed two goals on 39 shots in the Lightning's win over the Penguins last Wednesday. Curtis McElhinney starts on Saturday, giving Vasilevskiy nearly an entire week of rest prior to tonight's outing in New York. The Rangers have lost six of their last seven and Vasilevskiy is 3-1-0 with a .913 SV% on the road so far. Suffice it to say that he's a must-start on Tuesday.
Vasilevskiy allowed six goals on 24 shots in the Lightning's 6-2 loss to the Avalanche last Saturday. The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for Vasilevskiy, who is 4-2-0 with a 3.15 GAA and .899 SV% on the season. Tonight he faces the Penguins, who are on the tail-end of a back-to-back. They were shutout (3-0) in their first back-to-back set.
Vasilevskiy allowed three goals on 37 shots in the Lightning’s shootout win in Boston on Thursday. Vasilevskiy has won three straight while allowing just seven goals on 99 shots (.929 SV%). Overall, he has won four of his first five outings and is a great option against an Avalanche team on the second leg of a back-to-back with a goalie making his fourth career NHL start.
