Lightning try to end skid at Blackhawks
CHICAGO -- The Tampa Bay Lightning will try to end a three-game losing streak when they face the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday night at the United Center.
The skid has served as a reality check for Tampa Bay (31-12-3), which remains atop the Eastern Conference with 65 points. Monday's game is the second installment of a grueling eight-game road trip that includes a stop in Nashville next.
"It's really going to test our will and commitment and compete to go into those buildings and have a good game and get wins," defenseman Dan Girardi said to the Tampa Bay Times. "We've got to stop the bleeding."
The same sentiment holds true for Chicago (22-18-3), which has dropped back-to-back games and three of four. The Blackhawks are coming off an ugly 7-3 loss to the New York Islanders that highlighted recent troubling trends such as shaky goaltending, careless penalties and porous defensive play.
More than halfway through the season, the Blackhawks are sliding further out of the playoff picture. They have made the postseason in each of the past nine seasons and know a turnaround is necessary to push the streak to 10.
"Time's ticking here, and we know that the urgency has to be there," defenseman Duncan Keith said to the Chicago Sun-Times. "It's got to come in-game. We can sit here and talk all we want and say things, but it's got to come down to us doing it in the game."
The Blackhawks remain without No. 1 goaltender Corey Crawford, who will miss his 12th game in a row because of an upper-body injury. Crawford's injury has forced the team to turn to Anton Forsberg and Jeff Glass in net.
Glass will start against the Lightning, coach Joel Quenneville announced after Sunday's practice. Glass is 3-2-1 with a 3.34 goals-against average and .905 save percentage and has not faced Tampa Bay in his career.
Tampa Bay could stick with top netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy, who has a 27-9-2 record with a 2.27 GAA and .927 save percentage. Vasilevskiy is 3-0-0 against the Blackhawks with a 2.64 GAA and .917 save percentage.
If Vasilevskiy rests, backup Louis Domingue could earn his second start with the Lightning. He is 1-6-0 with a 4.02 GAA and .870 save percentage in eight games (six starts) with Arizona and Tampa Bay this season. In four career appearances against Chicago, he is 0-3-1 with a 4.58 GAA and an .861 save percentage.
The Blackhawks expect to welcome back veteran center Artem Anisimov, who has not played since Dec. 28 because of an upper-body injury. Anisimov has 13 goals and five assists in 36 games this season and figures to boost Chicago's scoring attack with his net-front presence.
The Lightning will be without left winger Ondrej Palat, who is out indefinitely because of an undisclosed injury that he sustained Saturday against the Minnesota Wild. The 26-year-old has eight goals and 22 assists in 46 games.
Tampa Bay recalled forwards Michael Bournival and Matthew Peca from the AHL's Syracuse Crunch on Sunday to provide additional depth for the road trip. Neither player has appeared in a game for the Lightning this season.
