Chicago Blackhawks (4-7, eighth in the Central Division) vs. Tampa Bay Lightning (6-3-4, second in the Atlantic Division)
Tampa, Florida; Thursday, 7 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: The Tampa Bay Lightning host the Chicago Blackhawks after Nicholas Paul's two-goal game against the Montreal Canadiens in the Lightning's 5-3 win.
Tampa Bay is 4-0-2 in home games and 6-3-4 overall. The Lightning have scored 50 total goals (3.8 per game) to rank second in NHL play.
Chicago is 3-4-0 in road games and 4-7 overall. The Blackhawks have conceded 38 goals while scoring 26 for a -12 scoring differential.
The teams meet Thursday for the first time this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Nikita Kucherov has scored 10 goals with 12 assists for the Lightning. Victor Hedman has two goals and nine assists over the last 10 games.
Connor Bedard has five goals and two assists for the Blackhawks. Tyler Johnson has scored three goals with two assists over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Lightning: 5-1-4, averaging 3.9 goals, 7.1 assists, 4.3 penalties and 10.1 penalty minutes while giving up three goals per game.
Blackhawks: 3-7-0, averaging 2.2 goals, 3.6 assists, 4.5 penalties and 11 penalty minutes while giving up 3.4 goals per game.
INJURIES: Lightning: Conor Sheary: day to day (upper-body), Andrei Vasilevskiy: out (back).
Blackhawks: Colin Blackwell: out (lower body), Luke Philp: out (achilles), Samuel Savoie: out (leg).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
The Associated Press
