Chicago @ Tampa Bay preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 21, 2019 ) Tampa Bay 4, Chicago 2

The Tampa Bay Lightning have followed a franchise-record 11-game winning streak by losing a season-high three straight contests in regulation as they prepare to host the struggling Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday night. The Lightning were mighty stingy during their hot streak, but have surrendered 16 goals during the losing stretch after falling 4-3 at home against Toronto on Tuesday.

Forward Yanni Gourde, who scored one of Tampa Bay’s goals, said the energy felt a bit low in the first two periods and told reporters: “I think it’s the little things that get the puck in our net. If we limit those, we can be better. We have to execute again, play in (the system) and be consistent.” The Lightning will attempt to extend their winning streak against the Blackhawks to nine games, but may have to do it without second-leading scorer Steven Stamkos after the captain left Tuesday’s contest with a lower-body injury. Chicago has fallen eight points behind three teams tied for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference after losing four of five games and going 2-7-2 in the last 11 following a 6-5 setback at St. Louis on Tuesday. “We did some good things, put ourselves in a position to get points,” Blackhawks coach Jeremy Colliton told the Chicago Tribune. “But our details of our game were just not near good enough to get a win in this building against this team.”

TIME: 7 p.m. ET. TV: NBCS Chicago, FS Sun

ABOUT THE BLACKHAWKS (27-28-8): Former Hart Trophy winner Patrick Kane boasts three of his team-high 28 goals and six assists during a six-game point streak to boost his club-best point total to 78. Captain Jonathan Toews, who had an assist in the 4-2 home loss to Tampa Bay on Nov. 21, recorded 10 of his 54 points in the last nine games while fellow forward Dominik Kubalik leads all rookies in the league with 26 goals - five in the last nine contests. Chicago, which is 28th in the league on the power play (15.5 percent), but is 5-for-14 in the last three games and went 3-for-4 with the man advantage Tuesday with Colliton telling reporters: “We haven’t been able to get it firing consistently. It seems like we’re there. … It can help you win games, especially on the road.”

ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (40-18-5): While Chicago has picked it up on the power play, Tampa Bay is struggling with special teams after allowing eight goals in 22 attempts down a man over the past five games and scoring only three times with the man advantage in 41 tries the last 16 contests. Reigning Hart Trophy winner Nikita Kucherov reached 30 goals for the fifth straight season Tuesday and has at least a point in the last 17 games he has played to push his team-leading total to 76 - 10 more than Stamkos. Andrei Vasilevskiy (league-best 32 wins) has stopped 81-of-97 shots the last three games, but is 4-0-0 with a 1.99 goals-against average and a .941 save percentage in his career against the Blackhawks.

OVERTIME

1. Chicago D Duncan Keith scored the 100th goal of his career Tuesday and has six points over the past four contests.

2. Tampa Bay C Barclay Goodrow had an assist in 10 minutes, 40 seconds of ice time in his team debut Tuesday.

3. Blackhawks G Corey Crawford (11-18-3) had a .934 SP in February before giving up six goals on 37 shots versus St. Louis.

PREDICTION: Lightning 4, Blackhawks 2