Carolina Hurricanes at Tampa Bay Lightning: Game three lineups and discussion

The Carolina Hurricanes and Tampa Bay Lightning will change states and venues as the series moves forward, shifting to Amalie Arena in Tampa for games three and four.

Game three will be Thursday night, and the Hurricanes will be in desperation mode looking to claw out of a 2-0 series deficit after dropping the first two games at home in Raleigh.

There will be a few changes for the Canes Thursday night, both in the lineup and in the crease. For starters, forward Vincent Trocheck, who sustained an injury in game two, is doubtful for game three.

Trocheck’s absence won’t be a decision, but the change in Carolina’s net will be. Alex Nedeljkovic, who has started every game of the playoffs so far, will sit Thursday in favor of Petr Mrazek, who will suit up for the first time this postseason.

With Mrazek in net, here’s how the Canes should line up Thursday night:

Andrei Svechnikov - Sebastian Aho - Teuvo Teravainen
Warren Foegele - Jordan Staal - Martin Necas
Brock McGinn - Jordan Martinook - Jesper Fast
Cedric Paquette - Steven Lorentz - Morgan Geekie

Jaccob Slavin - Dougie Hamilton
Brady Skjei - Brett Pesce
Jake Bean - Jani Hakanpaa

Petr Mrazek
Alex Nedeljkovic

Injuries and Scratches: Nino Niederreiter (upper body), Vincent Trocheck (lower body), Antione Bibeau, James Reimer, Max McCormick, Drew Shore, Joakim Ryan, Maxime Lajoie, Joey Keane, Jake Gardiner, Roland McKeown, Ryan Suzuki

The Lightning on the other hand are sitting pretty, up 2-0 in the series without having played a game at home.

In game two, Andrei Vasilevskiy was superb in net again, while Alex Killorn and Anthony Cirelli provided the two goals Tampa needed to get the win.

No chances are expected for the Lightning’s lineup Thursday, with forward David Savard still sidelined with an upper-body injury. Steven Stamkos and Ryan McDonagh missed morning skate for Tampa, but they are expected to play.

Here’s how the Lightning will hit the ice:

Ondrej Palat - Brayden Point - Nikita Kucherov
Alex Killorn - Anthony Cirelli - Steven Stamkos
Barclay Goodrow - Yanni Gourde - Blake Coleman
Ross Colton - Tyler Johnson - Pat Maroon

Victor Hedman - Jan Rutta
Ryan McDonagh - Erik Cernak
Mikhail Sergachev - Luke Schenn

Andrei Vasilevskiy
Curtis McElhinney

Injuries and Scratches: David Savard (upper body), Spencer Martin, Christopher Gibson, Fredrik Claesson, Andreas Borgman, Mathieu Joseph, Taylor Raddysh, Boris Katchouk, Gemel Smith, Cal Foote, Ben Thomas, Alex Barre-Boulet, Mitchell Stephens, Daniel Walcott