Tampa Bay @ Edmonton preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 6, 2018 ) Edmonton 2, Tampa Bay 5

The Tampa Bay Lightning are one of five teams to keep Edmonton captain Connor McDavid off the scoresheet in 34 games this season and will try to be the first to do it twice Saturday night when they visit the Oilers. Nikita Kucherov and captain Steven Stamkos each recorded three points as the NHL-best Lightning knocked off Edmonton 5-2 on Nov. 6 in Tampa Bay while McDavid was a minus-2 with five shots.

The Lightning have stretched their point streak to 11 games (10-0-1) after rallying to beat Calgary 5-4 in a shootout Thursday as Stamkos recorded his 11th goal in 11 outings and Kucherov extended his point streak to seven contests. “We have found a way to win different ways,” Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper told reporters. “We’ve won the checking games. We’ve found a way to win the high-scoring games, the goaltender battles. If it’s a special teams war, we’ve found a way.” McDavid scored four times in Edmonton’s 6-2 win over the Lightning at home last season, but was shut out for the fifth time this season last time out Tuesday against St. Louis in a 4-1 setback - the Oilers’ third loss in four games (1-2-1) and first at home in seven contests since Ken Hitchcock took over as coach. “We just weren’t sharp,” McDavid told reporters. “We had a lot of opportunities on the power play and we were 0-for-5. That’s just not good enough.”

TV: 10 p.m. ET, FS Sun (Tampa Bay), CITY, Sportsnet One, Sportsnet East, Sportsnet Ontario, Sportsnet West (Edmonton)

ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (27-7-2): Kucherov owns three goals and seven assists during his streak and leads the team with 52 points - seven better than center Brayden Point, who notched seven assists in the last six contests. Stamkos passed Hall of Famer Martin St. Louis for second on Tampa Bay’s all-time goal-scoring list with his 366th Thursday and is 17 shy of Vincent Lecavalier. Backup Louis Domingue won his 15th game Thursday and No. 1 goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy is expected back in net against the Oilers after going 2-0-1 with a .938 save percentage in three games since returning from a foot injury.

ABOUT THE OILERS (18-14-3): Right wing Jesse Puljujarvi scored the only goal Tuesday for his first in 10 games this month and the fourth-overall pick in the 2016 draft has just three on the season. Despite being blanked on one shot Tuesday, McDavid has still posted 16 of his team-best 49 points in the last 10 games while Leon Draisaitl (16 goals, 26 assists) was kept off the scoresheet the last two contests. Mikko Koskinen (11-4-1, 2.18 goals-against, .928 save percentage), who was rested Tuesday, will likely be back in net for Edmonton after giving up eight goals in winning three of his last four outings.

OVERTIME

1. Edmonton C Ryan Nugent-Hopkins boast five goals and two assists in his last eight games and is third on the team with 31 points.

2. Tampa Bay RW Ryan Callahan (upper body) has missed the last two games and is questionable for Saturday.

3. Oilers F Jujhar Khaira (13 points, 33 contests) will serve the first contest of a two-game suspension for an illegal cross check.

PREDICTION: Lightning 4, Oilers 2