LIGHTNING (21-21-5) at COYOTES (13-26-6)
8 p.m. ET; FS-A PLUS, SUN, NHL.TV
Lightning team scope
Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman, who leads the team with 31 assists, could play after missing three games because of an illness. He took part in a full practice on Friday. Offense continues to be a problem for the Lightning (2-6-1 in their past nine games) who have five goals in the past four games. The Lightning are 1-5-2 in their past eight road games and have three points (1-1-1) after the first three games of a six-game, 11-day road trip. Forward J.T. Brown (upper body) is also close to returning to the lineup. Ben Bishop could start after backup Andrei Vasilevskiy started in a 2-1 loss to the San Jose Sharks on Thursday.
Coyotes team scope
The Arizona Coyotes, who begin a five-game homestand, have lost four straight and have won twice in the past 15 games (2-12-1). Forward Christian Fischer will be the seventh player make his NHL debut this season with the Coyotes. "This is a dream you have for your whole life and it's pretty cool to make it a reality," he said. "It's a long-time coming, a lot of hard work. I couldn't be more excited." Fischer, the No. 32 pick of the 2015 NHL Draft, had 16 goals and 16 assists in 31 games with Tucson of the American Hockey League despite missing time with a broken thumb. "He's a young player who had a pretty good training camp and then went down to Tucson and earned his chance to play here," Coyotes coach Dave Tippett said. "He's a thick guy who plays a heavy game and I'm interested to see what he can do." Center Martin Hanzal will return to the lineup after missing two games for personal reasons. Mike Smith, who allowed six goals before being replaced in a 6-3 loss against the Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday, will be in goal against his former team.
Lightning projected lineup
Ondrej Palat -- Tyler Johnson -- Nikita Kucherov
Alex Killorn -- Vladislav Namestnikov -- Joel Vermin
Brian Boyle -- Valtteri Filppula -- Jonathan Drouin
Michael Bournival -- Cedric Paquette -- Gabriel Dumont
Nikita Nesterov -- Anton Stralman
Jason Garrison -- Andrej Sustr
Braydon Coburn -- Luke Witkowski
Ben Bishop
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Scratched: Erik Condra, Jake Dotchin
Injured: J.T. Brown (upper body), Ryan Callahan (lower body), Victor Hedman (illness), Brayden Point (upper body). Steven Stamkos (knee)
Coyotes projected lineup
Tobias Rieder -- Martin Hanzal -- Radim Vrbata
Brendan Perlini -- Christian Dvorak -- Shane Doan
Jamie McGinn -- Alexander Burmistrov -- Christian Fischer
Jordan Martinook -- Peter Holland -- Ryan White
Oliver Ekman-Larsson -- Luke Schenn
Alex Goligoski -- Michael Stone
Jakob Chychrun -- Connor Murphy
Mike Smith
Scratched: Kevin Connuaton, Lawson Crouse, Josh Jooris
Injured: Max Domi (upper body), Brad Richardson (broken leg)
Status report
Palat, Johnson and Kucerov skated together on Friday and are expected to be reunited. ... Fischer will play with McGinn and Holland, and Hanzal will be with Rieder and Vrbata. ... The Tampa Tribune reported defenseman Erik Condra was placed on waivers. If he clears, he would return to Syracuse of the AHL.
Who's hot
Cychrun has scored in back-to-back games and has a chance to be the first rookie defenseman in Coyotes history to score in three straight games. ... Perlini has three goals in his past five games. ... Drouin has three goals and four assists in the past seven games.
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