Tampa Bay Lightning Morning skate update at Florida; Jan. 26

by Erik Erlendsson | @Erik_Erlendsson | Like us on Facebook
January 25, 2017

SUNRISE, Fla. – The Tampa Bay Lightning close out the pre-All Star game schedule tonight against the Florida Panthers and appear to be making few changes to the lineup that won in Chicago on Tuesday.

Tampa Bay will be closing out a six-game road stand, carrying a 2-2-1 record on the trip to this point. The Lightning are in desperate need of points, tied with five other teams at 49 points in positions 11-16 in the Eastern Conference standings. Florida sits 10th with 50 points.

So the importance level for tonight’s game is vital as the Lightning look to win consecutive games for just the second time since November.

Here is what went on at this morning’s skate at BB&T Center:

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Andrei Vasilevskiy gets the nod in net for Tampa Bay, giving him consecutive starts for the first time since Ben Bishop returned from injury earlier this month. After making 34 stops and giving the Lightning the chance to stay in the game before rallying for four goals in the third period at Chicago, Vasilevskiy is being rewarded for his strong play in that game.

Defenseman Jason Garrison, who missed the past two games due to illness, is expected to be back in the lineup tonight as Tampa Bay appears to be going with lineup that features 11 forwards, seven defenseman.

Michael Bournival was absent from the morning skate and his gear and bag were not at his locker stall in the locker room. Though Jon Cooper was not asked about Bournival’s absence, based on the evidence (no, I’m not trying to be a lawyer ) it would appear that Bournival is likely being reassigned to Syracuse, although that is not confirmed at this point.

Here is what the line combinations and defensive pairings looked like this morning, with Nikita Nesterov expected to dress as the seventh defenseman while Luke Witkowski and Erik Condra appear to be the scratches:

Morning skate D pairings
Hedman-Dotchin
Coburn-Stralman
Garrison-Sustr
Nesterov-Witkowski #tblightning

— Erik Erlendsson (@Erik_Erlendsson) January 26, 2017

I’ll have a little bit more posted shortly on Brayden Point, who took part in the morning skate but was limited in his drills, as he gets closer to a return from a fractured bone in his hand.

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