A huge win over the Boston Bruins on Jan. 17 snapped the skid and opened a string of three-straight wins for the Lightning, and they will look to make it four straight victories tonight against the Blue Jackets. Tampa Bay has not played since a 4-3 win in Phoenix on Saturday night, while Columbus dropped a 4-1 decision to the Nashville Predators last night at Bridgestone Arena. And for two teams that don’t face each other often, the Lightning’s win at Nationwide Arena just before Christmas had the intensity of a divisional matchup and there’s likely to be more of that tonight.

One of the main reasons the Lightning have struggled is goaltending, and Dwayne Roloson’s sharp decline in production has put more pressure on backup Mathieu Garon, who earned a 3-2 victory vs. the Blue Jackets earlier this season. Garon has picked up wins in two of Tampa’s three consecutive victories and is the likely starter tonight.

The Blue Jackets – much like the Lightning – have been hampered by injuries but welcomed R.J. Umberger back to the lineup in Nashville. Tampa Bay is currently without Dana Tyrell, Tom Pyatt, Ryan Malone, Adam Hall and Ryan Shannon up front and defenseman Victor Hedman remains out of the lineup for coach Guy Boucher.

Despite injuries, Tampa Bay is getting scoring from its best players of late. Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis are each riding five-game point streaks and Steven Stamkos leads all NHL players with 32 goals.

G	Nash (17)	Stamkos (32)
A	Prospal (21)	St. Louis (30)
PTS	Nash (33)	Stamkos (52)
PIM	Dorsett (111)	Downie (111)
+/-	MacKenzie (+5)	Bergeron (+8)
W/L	Sanford (8-10-4)	Garon (13-13-2)
GAA	Sanford (2.51)	Garon (2.95)
SVP	Sanford (.914)	Garon (.901)