The Tampa Bay Lightning take on the Columbus Blue Jackets at the Nationwide Arena today. Here are the projected/expected lineups sourced from NHL.com staff writers, independent correspondents, and others.
LIGHTNING (1-2-2) at BLUE JACKETS (1-3-0)
7 p.m. ET; The Spot, FDSNOH
Lightning projected lineup
Brandon Hagel — Brayden Point — Gage Goncalves
Jake Guentzel — Anthony Cirelli — Conor Geekie
Oliver Bjorkstrand — Yanni Gourde — Pontus Holmberg
Mitchell Chaffee — Jack Finley — Curtis Douglas
Victor Hedman — J.J. Moser
Ryan McDonagh — Erik Cernak
Emil Lilleberg — Darren Raddysh
Jonas Johansson
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Scratched: Steven Santini, Scott Sabourin
Injured: Zemgus Girgensons (upper body), Max Crozier (undisclosed), Nikita Kucherov (illness)
Status report
The teams each held an optional morning skate Saturday. … Kucherov is questionable after the forward did not play in a 2-1 overtime loss at the Detroit Red Wings on Friday. … Johansson is expected to start after Vasilevskiy made 29 saves at Detroit.
Latest for THW:
- NHL Morning Recap – October 18, 2025
- Projected Lineups for Lightning vs Red Wings –10/17/25
- NHL Morning Recap – October 15th 2025
Blue Jackets projected lineup
Dmitri Voronkov — Sean Monahan — Kirill Marchenko
Boone Jenner — Adam Fantilli — Kent Johnson
Cole Sillinger — Charlie Coyle — Mathieu Olivier
Zach Aston-Reese — Isac Lundestrom — Yegor Chinakhov
Zach Werenski — Denton Mateychuk
Ivan Provorov — Damon Severson
Jake Christiansen — Dante Fabbro
Jet Greaves
Elvis Merzlikins
Scratched: None
Injured: Erik Gudbranson (upper body), Miles Wood (upper body)
Status report
Based on practice Friday, Mateychuk will pair with Werenski with Fabbro moving to the third pair alongside Christiansen. … Voronkov and Johnson swapped lines, as did Jenner and Sillinger.
Latest for THW:
- Blue Jackets Address Work Ethic & Early Offensive Struggles
- 3 Takeaways From the Blue Jackets’ Frustrating 4-1 Loss to the Avalanche
- NHL Morning Recap – October 17, 2025
