Will Nikita Kucherov be the next NHL player to hit 1,000 career points? The Tampa Bay Lightning will visit the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday afternoon in what will be the first game of this weekend's back-to-back. The next two matchups against Detroit and Montreal will be their last opportunity to grab points before the 4 Nations Face-Off break. FROM THE LIGHTNING SIDE The Lightning had two massive divisional wins against the Ottawa Senators earlier in the week. If they manage to grab two more this weekend, it would put them in a good spot in the standings heading into the break. “We know what we need to do in this room," said Brandon Hagel. "When that break comes, we don't want to be out of the playoffs, we want to be in it. So that’s our goal here, to take advantage one game at a time.” Anthony Cirelli was out of Thursday’s game with an upper body injury. No word yet on whether or not he will be available on Saturday. Side note: He is expected to be on the Team Canada roster for the 4 Nations tournament. On Friday evening, Tampa Bay recalled former University of Michigan forward Dylan Duke from AHL Syracuse. Duke has skated in 36 games with the Syracuse Crunch this season and recorded 13 goals, which is tied for the sixth-most among all AHL rookies. Typically we don't see Andrei Vasilevskiy playing in back-to-back games. With the two week break approaching, we are still waiting on confirmation for this weekend's Atlantic Division matchups. FROM THE RED WINGS SIDE Red Wings coach Todd McLellan confirmed a J.T. Compher return to the lineup for the first time since Jan. 25 when Detroit hosted the Lightning. McLellan also said Alex Lyon would be starting in net. "We have a task in front of us, and we expect a lot from each other," McLellan said of their matchup vs the Lightning on Saturday. "So while there will be distractions and things that can pull you away from the game, expectations are high that we give each other everything we have." "The focus has to be on playing hard and playing a good 60 minutes. It takes everybody to beat them, and that's what our focus will be on." HERE’S A LOOK AT THE LIGHTNING LINES FROM THURSDAY'S GAME: Forwards Gage Goncalves - Brayden Point - Nikita Kucherov Jake Guentzel - Nick Paul - Brandon Hagel Conor Sheary - Zemgus Girgensons - Mitchell Chaffee Cam Atkinson - Luke Glendening - Mikey Eyssimont Defensemen Victor Hedman - Darren Raddysh Ryan McDonagh - Erik Cernak Declan Carlile - Nick Perbix Goaltenders Andrei Vasilevskiy The Lightning are 1-1-0 against Detroit this season. Puck drop is at 1pm.
