LIGHTNING (14-13-2) at FLAMES (16-13-2)
9:30 p.m. ET; SN, SN360, SUN, NHL.TV
Lightning team scope
Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov is questionable to play Wednesday. Kucherov left practice early Tuesday because of an undisclosed injury. "[Kucherov] is fine. Everyone's been told to come ready to play tonight so we'll know our lineup when we get here tonight," associate coach Rick Bowness said. Kucherov was the first skater off the ice in an optional skate Wednesday morning. The Lightning have recalled forward Cory Conacher from Syracuse of the American Hockey League. "I haven't talked to [Kucherov] yet so I don't know what's going on, but obviously he's a pretty big player on our team," forward Tyler Johnson said. "If he's out there that's awesome for us. If he's not it's going to require other guys to step up again." Kucherov is the Lightning's leading scorer with 30 points (13 goals, 17 assists). "He's a goal scorer, he can make plays, he can change the momentum and the tide of the game," Johnson said. "He's just one of those complete players. He's been outstanding for us. He's had a tremendous year thus far." After a 4-3 loss against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday, the Lightning will open a three-game road trip through Western Canada having lost three in a row (0-2-1) and with one win in the past eight games (1-6-1). "For us, I think we really have to focus on our game," Bowness said. "There's a lot of things we can do a lot better. I thought against Pittsburgh it was a step in the right direction but we can even take it up another notch."
Flames team scope
The Calgary Flames have won six consecutive games, including four straight at home. The win streak is their longest since winning seven in a row Dec. 1-17, 2015, and has helped push the Flames' home record to 7-7-0 after starting with three wins in their first 10 games (3-7-0) at Scotiabank Saddledome. Forward Kris Versteeg will return to the lineup aftermissing the past two games because of an upper-body injury. "For myself, you never want to come out of the lineup, especially when the team's on a roll," he said. "Even when the team's down you hope to be part of the solution. For me, it was really tough to sit out. But the team winning makes the healing process on the mind easier more than anything. … When you come and you have the mindset of play and you don't go, it's definitely a little disheartening at times. But you just move onto the next game. Today was a day where I came and feel really good and I'm excited to be back out there." Versteeg has six points (two goals, four assists) during a five-game point streak, and will return to a line with Sean Monahan and Troy Brouwer. "He's got the ability to make some real high-end plays and he makes one or two of those a game," coach Glen Gulutzan said. "Putting him with [Monahan] back there gives a bit more of a punch through the lineup." Goaltender Chad Johnson will start for the 14th time in 16 games. He has allowed six goals in winning his past six starts, and is 13-4-1 with a 1.98 goals-against average and a .932 save percentage this season.
Lightning projected lineup
Ondrej Palat -- Tyler Johnson -- Nikita Kucherov
Alex Killorn -- Brayden Point -- Joel Vermin
Brian Boyle -- Valtteri Filppula -- Jonathan Drouin
Vladislav Namestnikov -- Cedric Paquette -- J.T. Brown
Victor Hedman -- Anton Stralman
Jason Garrison -- Braydon Coburn
Slater Koekkoek -- Andrej Sustr
Scratched: Nikita Nesterov, Cory Conacher, Luke Witkowski
Injured: Steven Stamkos (knee), Ryan Callahan (lower body)
Flames projected lineup
Matthew Tkachuk -- Mikael Backlund -- Michael Frolik
Johnny Gaudreau -- Sam Bennett -- Alex Chiasson
Kris Versteeg -- Sean Monahan -- Troy Brouwer
Lance Bouma -- Matt Stajan -- Micheal Ferland
Mark Giordano -- Dougie Hamilton
Jyrki Jokipakka -- Deryk Engelland
Chad Johnson
Scratched: Freddie Hamilton, Garnet Hathaway, Tyler Wotherspoon
Injured: Ladislav Smid (neck)
Status report
Bowness did not confirm a starting goaltender. Vasilevskiy participated in the morning skate and Bishop did not. Callahan, who has missed the past six games, also took part in the morning skate. Hedman is expected to play in his 500th NHL game. Witkowski was recalled from Syracuse of the American Hockey League. Erik Condra was sent to Syracuse. … Hathaway will come out of the lineup with Versteeg's return.
Who's hot
Drouin has six points (three goals, three assists) during a four-game point streak. … Gaudreau has eight points (two goals, six assists) during a four-game point streak since his return from a fractured finger. … Monahan has nine points (four goals, five assists) during a seven-game point streak. … Dougie Hamilton has five points (four goals, one assist) in his past five games. … Tkachuk has five assists in his past five games.
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