GAME DAY: Struggling Golden Knights face NHL-leading Lightning

TAMPA, Fla. — The Golden Knights will try to contain the NHL’s top offense when they meet the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday at Amalie Arena.

Opening faceoff is 4:30 p.m. Pacific time, and the game will be televised on AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain.

“Tampa is the most skilled team in the league. You look at the standings and they’re so far ahead of everybody else,” Knights coach Gerard Gallant said. “We’ve played them real well, but we’re going to have to play our best game to have a chance to win this game (Tuesday) night against them, because they’re a good team.”

The Knights (29-21-4, 62 points) are mired in a franchise-record four-game losing skid after falling 3-1 at Florida on Saturday.

The only other time the Knights lost four straight was against Washington in the Stanley Cup Final.

Center Paul Stastny has a seven-game assist streak and is one shy of matching his career long. He has one goal and eight assists during that stretch.

Left wing Max Pacioretty notched his 16th goal against Florida, one shy of Jonathan Marchessault for the team lead, and has seven points (four goals, three assists) in his past seven games.

Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, who is expected start, has lost five of his past seven outings despite the fact he hasn’t allowed more than three goals in a game since Dec. 23.

The Knights won both meetings last season against the Lightning before dropping a 3-2 decision Oct. 26 at T-Mobile Arena.

Tampa Bay (39-11-2, 80 points) is riding a two-game win streak and could challenge the NHL record for most points in a season held by the 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens (132 points).

The Lightning lead the league with 205 goals and can become the first team to reach the 40-victory mark. No other team has more than 34 wins.

Winger Nikita Kucherov has a league-best 80 points (22 goals, 58 assists), and goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy, a Vezina Trophy candidate, ranks third overall with a .925 save percentage.

Center Brayden Point, who leads the Lightning with 30 goals, skated Tuesday and coach Jon Cooper said he will be a game-time decision.

Point did not practice Monday and was held out of Saturday’s 3-2 victory over the New York Rangers for precautionary reasons with a lower-body injury.

“You have to be aware of certain players that they have,” Knights winger Reilly Smith said. “Obviously they have a good power play and they have talented players. They’re a skilled team, so you’ve just got to take away their time and space, and I think that’s one thing we’ll really try to key on.”

Golden Knights projected lineup

Forwards

Jonathan Marchessault-William Karlsson-Valentin Zykov

Max Pacioretty-Paul Stastny-Alex Tuch

Brandon Pirri-Cody Eakin-Reilly Smith

Ryan Carpenter-Pierre-Edouard Bellemare-Ryan Reaves

Defensemen

Brayden McNabb-Nate Schmidt

Shea Theodore-Deryk Engelland

Jon Merrill-Colin Miller

Goaltender

Marc-Andre Fleury