The California road trip is set to get underway this afternoon, as the Tampa Bay Lightning are in Anaheim and ready to face off against the Ducks.
The Ducks have taken a massive step forward this season under new head coach Joel Quenneville. Heading into tonight’s matchup, they sit third in the Pacific Division with 44 points and a 21-16-2 record.
On the injury front, the Ducks have a much cleaner bill of health than the Lightning heading into this matchup. Frank Vatrano and Radko Gudas are the only injuries in Anaheim, and both are listed as day-to-day.
The Lightning added Scott Sabourin to their growing injury list after Sunday’s game in Montreal. Emil Lilleberg, Victor Hedman, and Ryan McDonagh are also still on the shelf.
As for scoring, Nikita Kucherov leads the Lightning with seven points, four goals and three assists, in the last five games. Troy Terry leads the Ducks with four points in that same time frame, while Mikael Granlund leads with three goals, and defenseman Jackson LaCombe leads the team with three assists.
Ducks Lines (via Zach Cavanagh)
Gauthier - Carlsson - Granlund
Kreider - McTavish - Sennecke
Nesterenko - Poehling - Terry
Johnston - Strome - Killorn
LaCombe - Helleson
Zellweger - Trouba
Mintyukov - Moore
Dostal
Mrazek
Lightning Lines (Per Benjamin Pierce)
Goncalves - Point - Kucherov
Hagel - Cirelli - Guentzel
Girgensons - Gourde - Holmberg
Paul - James - Bjorkstrand
Moser - Raddysh
D’Astous - Cernak
Carlile - Crozier
Vasilevskiy