Arizona @ Tampa Bay preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 18, 2019 ) Arizona 1, Tampa Bay 4

The Tampa Bay Lightning look to continue their offensive surge and match the second-longest winning streak in franchise history when they host the Pacific Division-leading Arizona Coyotes on Thursday night. The Lightning have recorded 38 goals during their eight-game winning streak after exploding for a franchise-record tying six in the second period of Tuesday’s 9-2 victory over Vancouver, and are outscoring opponents 12-2 in the third period during the run.

“A big part of what we’re trying to learn, and trying to do, is close out games,” Tampa Bay center Brayden Point told reporters after posting four points Tuesday. “Tonight I thought we did a good job in the third period. We stuck with it and kept playing our game. We got rewarded for it on the scoresheet.” The Lightning will be hard-pressed to match their output against the Coyotes, who are third in the league in goals against per game (2.49) and have won four consecutive contests after knocking off Florida 5-2 on Tuesday with their third-string goaltender in net. Adin Hill turned aside 37 shots and defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson matched his season high with three points Tuesday for Arizona, which gave up two goals in 36 seconds to fall behind 2-1 in the second period before taking over. “I like our response,” Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet told reporters after his team improved to 14-6-3 on the road. “We were calm on the bench. That’s just the sort of stuff that you’re looking for. You’re going to play in these situations where things might not go your way, you’ve just got to keep your head.”

TIME: 7 p.m. ET. TV: FS Arizona, FS Sun

ABOUT THE COYOTES (25-16-4): Darcy Kuemper is out indefinitely and Antti Raanta is day-to-day with lower-body injuries, allowing Hill to make his first start this season with 20-year-old rookie Ivan Prosvetov as his backup. Forward Nick Schmaltz was kept off the scoresheet Tuesday, but has 12 of his team-leading 35 points in the last 10 games, and veteran right wing Phil Kessel has warmed up with a goal along with five assists over the past four contests. Left wing Taylor Hall notched a goal and an assist against Florida to give him eight points in 10 games since being acquired from New Jersey while veteran center Derek Stepan owns a four-game point streak (one goal).

ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (25-13-4): Carter Verhaeghe, who led the American Hockey League in scoring last season, had two goals in 28 NHL games before registering a hat trick Tuesday. “He’s kind of bounced around with us, different positions and has been in and out of the lineup. You’ve got to find a way,” coach Jon Cooper told reporters. “It’s been leading up (to this). He had a couple really good games at the end of (our recent) road trip and he was feeling it tonight. It was great to see.” Nikita Kucherov recorded seven of his team-best 47 points during a current five-game streak while goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy has won six straight with a .932 save percentage in that span.

OVERTIME

1. Arizona LW Lawson Crouse has scored in three consecutive games to reach 10 on the season, one shy of his career high in 2018-19.

2. Point boasts two four-point performances in the last eight games and goals in three straight contests to lead the team with 18.

3. The Coyotes scored five power-play goals in the last four games and are 14-for-14 in penalty killing over the past five contests.

PREDICTION: Lightning 4, Coyotes 2