(SportsNetwork.com) - The Tampa Bay Lightning will try to match the longest home winning streak in franchise history on Tuesday night when they take on the Vancouver Canucks.
The Lightning are 18-4-1 at home on the season, a record they have bolstered with a seven-game winning streak as the host. That is just one shy of the club record set from March 17-April 8, 2006.
Tampa Bay survived blowing a late lead on Saturday to top the Colorado Avalanche 3-2 in a shootout. The Avalanche netted a game-tying goal with 6.8 seconds left in regulation, but Lightning goaltender Ben Bishop recovered to make five stops in overtime and another two saves in the shootout.
Bishop ended with 40 saves through 65 minutes of action.
"You need your goalie on to advance, and he got us a couple points tonight," said Lightning head coach Jon Cooper of Bishop.
Nikita Kucherov and Ryan Callahan had shootout tallies and Callahan also scored in regulation as Tampa Bay won for the ninth time in 12 games overall. Anton Stralman added a goal and an assist.
The Lightning's recent run has them leading the Atlantic Division with 62 points, one ahead of Detroit and three up on Montreal.
Tampa Bay also saw defenseman Victor Hedman return to the lineup on Saturday after he missed two games with a lower-body injury, but fellow blueliner Matt Carle sat out with a torn adductor muscle. Carle is expected to have surgery on Tuesday and will be out 6-to-8 weeks.
The Canucks conclude a five-game road trip tonight having won three straight after opening the swing with a loss in Nashville. Ryan Miller has been excellent over the win streak, shutting out Philadelphia and Carolina before making 23 stops in last night's 2-1 win over the Florida Panthers.
Miller came within 2:32 of posting his third straight shutout, but allowed a late goal to Brandon Pirri that snapped his career-best shutout streak at 200 minutes and 45 seconds.
Radim Vrbata and Bo Horvat scored early in the contest for the Canucks, who have won 15 games away from home thus far.
"I think it takes character to win on the road," Canucks head coach Willie Desjardins said. "I think it's hard to win on the road. We'd probably like to do better at home, but to win on the road, you have to be prepared because it's always tough."
The Canucks ability to pick up wins away from home has helped the club into second place in the tight Pacific Division. However, they are only one point up on third-place San Jose, two up on Calgary and a mere three points ahead of fifth-place Los Angeles.
Vancouver has lost three straight and six of its past eight versus Tampa Bay, including a 4-2 loss at home on Oct. 18.
Steven Stamkos had two goals and an assist for the Lightning, Callahan had a goal and Bishop made 30 saves. He has beaten Vancouver all three times he has faced them with a 2.33 goals against average and .922 save percentage.
Eddie Lack made 20 saves and gave up four goals in the loss for the Canucks. It is unknown if he will get the start tonight or if Miller will go for a second straight night.
The Lightning have won three of the past four meetings at home.
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