Tonight at 7:30 p.m. ET, the Tamp Bay Lightning (30-14-4, 64 points) and Carolina Hurricanes (16-25-5, 37 points) take the ice live from the PNC Arena in Raleigh for the third and final meeting against each other this season. The game can be live streamed for free here. Tampa Bay fans can hear all of the action on WDAE 620 while Carolina fans can do the same on 99.9 The Fan.
Tampa Bay closed out the regular season with three straight wins and the most points in the Eastern Conference while Carolina is on the outside looking in on the playoff picture, but won two consecutive contests leading into tonight.
The Lightning topped the Hurricanes by a 2-1 margin twice this season on Dec. 11 and Dec. 27.
Lightning forward Tyler Johnson (lower-body) participated in the morning skate and is a game-time decisoin tonight.
"You can't really read too much into [the morning skate] though," Johnson told NHL.com. "When I practiced [Monday], it was more about getting my hands working again. Today was a little bit better, but it's still just a pregame skate. It's tough to do any game-type stuff."
Johnson leads Tampa Bay with 48 points and is second in the NHL with a plus-26 rating. Lightning captain Steven Stamkos is third in the NHL and first on the Lightning with 26 goals while Nikita Kucherov paces the league with a plus-28 rating and is third on the team with 43 points.
The Hurricanes will suit up the same forwards they have been lately, meaning Alexander Semin will be scratched once again.
"It's not frustrating for me," coach Bill Peters said via NHL.com. "We just play the guys who dig in and work and play with speed in both directions. It's not hard. Obviously, something is not right. Talk is cheap though, right? You can talk or you can play. Show me."
Eric Staal has paced the Hurricanes with 28 points off of 15 goals and 13 assists while Justin Faulk has 26 points off of eight tallies and 18 helpers.
In net, Carolina is likely to turn to Anton Khudobin and he is 5-8-2 with a 2.32 goals-against average and a .916 save percentage.
Tampa Bay is likely to counter with Ben Bishop and he is 24-7-2 with a 2.34 GAA and a .914 save percentage.
The Lightning and Hurricanes clash for the final time this season live tonight from the PNC Arena in North Carolina.
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