Notches apple Saturday

Here are three reasons to like the Lightning’s new-look power play. Thursday’s moves were transformative, because the personnel and positional changes made it difficult to tell which was the top unit and which was the second. Point men Victor Hedman and Darren Raddysh switched units, with Brayden Point and Jake Guentzel matched with Raddysh.

Puts up helper Sunday

While the Tampa Bay Lightning continue to move up the Eastern Conference standings, their captain Victor Hedman keeps checking off milestones. The Lightning and their hulking defenseman will finish a two-game homestand Saturday night against the sizzling Detroit Red Wings in the opener of four matchups between the Atlantic Division foes.

“Nikita Kucherov joined his teammate Victor Hedman as the second player in @TBLightning history to tally 600 assists as the Lightning scored four goals in the second period,” posted the NHL ...

Anaheim opened the scoring 6:03 into the game on a redirection by forward Troy Terry, but the Lightning tied the score eight minutes later on the power play. Hedman got the puck at the left point and fed forward Brandon Hagel in the right corner, where the latter passed the puck to Anthony Cirelli at the back post for a tap-in and a tie game.

Limited cap space and draft capital could affect what the Maple Leafs and Lightning do by the NHL trade deadline, but there are areas where they clearly need a boost.

Quinn Hughes is the reigning Norris Trophy winner, and while he’s in the conversation again, the race for this year’s Norris Trophy looks highly competitive.

The Canadiens’ Lane Hutson extended his assist and point streaks (13 points; one goal, 12 assists) to nine games, tying the NHL record for the longest assist streak by a rookie defenseman, set by Shayne Gostisbehere of the Philadelphia Flyers in 2015-16.

My Canadiens vs Lightning predictions expect a competitive matchup between the teams, with Patrik Laine continuing to play his best hockey on home ice. Let’s take a closer look with my NHL picks for Tuesday, January 21 ahead of this 7 p.m. ET puck drop.

Montreal got off to a sluggish start on Tuesday against Tampa Bay, trailing by two early in the second. However, they got those back quickly and then Jake Evans potted the winner with just 2:15 in