Lightning and Penguins square off in Eastern Conference action

Audio By Carbonatix

Pittsburgh Penguins (38-21-16, in the Metropolitan Division) vs. Tampa Bay Lightning (46-22-6, in the Atlantic Division)

Tampa, Florida; Thursday, 7 p.m. EDT

BOTTOM LINE: The Tampa Bay Lightning host the Pittsburgh Penguins in Eastern Conference play.

Tampa Bay is 23-13-1 at home and 46-22-6 overall. The Lightning serve 14.4 penalty minutes per game to lead the league.

Pittsburgh has gone 20-9-8 in road games and 38-21-16 overall. The Penguins have a +32 scoring differential, with 260 total goals scored and 228 given up.

Thursday's game is the third time these teams meet this season. The Lightning won 2-1 in a shootout in the last meeting.

TOP PERFORMERS: Nikita Kucherov has 40 goals and 81 assists for the Lightning. Jake Guentzel has seven goals and five assists over the last 10 games.

Erik Karlsson has 13 goals and 47 assists for the Penguins. Rickard Rakell has scored seven goals with six assists over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Lightning: 6-2-2, averaging 3.9 goals, 6.6 assists, 5.1 penalties and 13.1 penalty minutes while giving up 2.6 goals per game.

Penguins: 6-3-1, averaging 4.2 goals, 7.6 assists, 3.8 penalties and 8.5 penalty minutes while giving up 3.5 goals per game.

INJURIES: Lightning: Max Crozier: out (abdomen), Dominic James: out (leg), Declan Carlile: out (undisclosed), Victor Hedman: out (illness).

Penguins: Filip Hallander: out (leg), Blake Lizotte: out (upper-body), Bryan Rust: day to day (lower body).

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.