Cernak has missed the last two games with an upper-body injury but said that he's good-to-go following the morning skate. Cernak has one assist and a plus-4 rating in four games this season.
Cernak will miss his second straight game with an upper-body injury but the Lightning are hopeful that he will be available on Monday. Cal Foote will remain in the lineup while Cernak is sidelined.
Vasilevskiy stopped 34 of 35 shots in the Lightning's 1-0 loss in Carolina on Thursday. Even with Curtis McElhinney coming off of the COVID-19 protocol list, the Lightning will give Vasilevskiy his sixth straight start on Saturday. Through his first five games of the season, the 26-year-old has gone 3-1-1 with a 1.98 GAA and .932 SV%.
Vasilevskiy stopped 34 of 35 shots in the Lightning's 1-0 loss in Carolina on Thursday. Even with Curtis McElhinney coming off of the COVID-19 protocol list, the Lightning will give Vasilevskiy his sixth straight start on Saturday. Through his first five games of the season, the 26-year-old has gone 3-1-1 with a 1.98 GAA and .932 SV%.
Vasilevskiy gave up four goals on 27 shots in the Lightning's loss in Columbus last Saturday. The Lightning have been off ever since, so Vasilevskiy will be well-rested vs. a Hurricanes team that hasn't played since January 18th. Through four starts, Vasilevskiy has a sparkling .920 SV% to go along with a 2.24 GAA, so he should be active whenever he gets the nod.
Vasilevskiy gave up four goals on 27 shots in the Lightning's loss in Columbus last Saturday. The Lightning have been off ever since, so Vasilevskiy will be well-rested vs. a Hurricanes team that hasn't played since January 18th. Through four starts, Vasilevskiy has a sparkling .920 SV% to go along with a 2.24 GAA, so he should be active whenever he gets the nod.
Cernak left Saturday's game in Columbus in the first period after falling awkwardly into the boards. With Cernak listed as day-to-day, he should be considered questionable for Thursday's game and Cal Foote would likely draw in to replace him if he can't go.
Vasilevskiy allowed two goals on 37 shots in the Lightning's win over the Blackhawks last Friday. Vasilevskiy won his first two games of the season while stopping 57 of the 60 shots (.950 SV%). Those two games came against a terrible Blackhawks team, so tonight's matchup with the Blue Jackets should be a much stiffer test.
Linus Ullmark, who was Monday's projected starter, will miss tonight's game due to personal reasons. As a result, Johansson was promoted from the taxi squad and he's expected to back up Carter Hutton.
Vasilevskiy stopped 22 of 23 shots in the Lightning's season-opening win over the Blackhawks on Wednesday. A late, fluky goal snapped his shutout but it was still a nice start to the season for Fantasy's No.1 netminder. With another matchup with Chicago on-tap, Vasilevskiy is an obvious must-start and should move to 2-0 to start the season.
Vasilevskiy stopped 22 of 23 shots in the Lightning's season-opening win over the Blackhawks on Wednesday. A late, fluky goal snapped his shutout but it was still a nice start to the season for Fantasy's No.1 netminder. With another matchup with Chicago on-tap, Vasilevskiy is an obvious must-start and should move to 2-0 to start the season.
Vasilevskiy is Fantasy's unquestioned No.1 goalie due to his workload and the quality the team in front of him. He has led the NHL in wins each of the last three seasons while ranking eighth in GAA (2.53) and fifth in SV% (.921). On opening night he draws a tremendous matchup vs. a Blackhawks team that is without both Jonathan Toews and Kirby Dach.
Girgensons will miss the entire 2021 season after suffering a serious hamstring injury. Girgensons led all Sabres forwards in shorthanded ice-time a season ago and they also lost Johan Larsson in free agency, so the Sabres will have to completely retool their penalty kill this season.
Cirelli is coming off of a really strong second season in the NHL, where he scored 16 goals and 28 assists (44 points) in 68 games. Cirelli had to take on a bigger role with Steven Stamkos injured for a good portion of the season and he flourished as the Lightning's No.2 centre. With Nikita Kucherov out for all of 2021, he will likely play the same role and Stamkos will shift over to the wing to fill-in for Kucherov. Cirelli's ceiling will be capped so long as he is playing with the likes of Alex Killorn and Tyler Johnson and not the upper echelon of talent in Tampa Bay, but he's a player that should have a 20-goal, 30-assist pace in 2021's shortened season.
The Lightning are hopeful that Kucherov will be available for the playoffs. Kucherov going on LTIR provides the Lightning with $9.5 million in cap space, which is a positive to come out of this. Tampa Bay is pressed up tight against the cap but losing their best player should allow them to get RFA Anthony Cirelli under contract before the start of the season.
