The Lightning have won seven of their last nine games in the month of December.
The Lightning have returned from the NHL’s mandated holiday break with one more back-to-back to end the month of December. They’re coming off a 4-0 shutout win against the Florida Panthers on Monday night and are hoping to continue building momentum before starting a jam-packed month of January.
Rookie Conor Geekie is expected to be back on the ice for the Lightning on Saturday night. He was out with a lower body injury against the Panthers, after crashing hard into the boards. They will be without forward Mikey Eyssimont, who is day-to-day with a lower body injury.
As for the New York Rangers, they have struggled as of late, losing thirteen of their last 17 games. K’andre Miller was activated off injured reserve on Friday and should be back in the line-up against the Lightning. Chris Kreider is also expected to play after being a healthy scratch on Monday in their 5-0 loss to the Devils.
Here’s a look at the Tampa Bay Lightning lines from Saturday’s morning skate:
Forwards
Jake Guentzel - Brayden Point - Nikita Kucherov
Brandon Hagel - Anthony Cirelli - Cam Atkinson
Gage Goncalves - Nick Paul - Mitchell Chaffee
Zemgus Girgensons - Luke Glendening - Cam Atkinson
Defensemen
Victor Hedman - Darren Raddysh
Ryan McDonagh - Erik Cernak
Emil Lilleberg - Nick Perbix
Goaltenders
Andrei Vasilevskiy