According to Gabby Shirley, the phrases during training were:

Jake Guentzel – Brayden Point – Nikita Kucherov

Cam Atkinson – Nick Paul – Conor Sheary

Gage Goncalves – Conor Geekie – Ethan Gauthier

Jesse Ylonen – Zemgus Girgensons – Max Groshev

The defensive pairings were:

Victor Hedman – JJ Moser

Ryan McDonagh – Erik Cernak

Emil Lilleberg – Nick Perbix

In net it will be a combination of Matt Tomkins and Jonas Johansson as the team continues to take its time getting Andrei Vasilevskiy ready for the season.

After 18 players were substituted yesterday, it’s no surprise that the regulars are seeing their first game. The regular season begins in less than two weeks, so it’s the ideal time for players to begin actual game action. It also breaks up the monotony of practicing a little.

There are still a few starters out of the lineup, most notably Brandon Hagel and Anthony Cirelli as well as the still-injured Mikey Eyssimont and Luke Glendening. In their absence, some of the bubble players like Max Groshev and Gage Goncalves are getting a look at the regular talent (I’m not going to lie, if that third line is a glimpse of the future, I’m totally okay with that combination).

Logan Brown is also not in the squad. The veteran apparently suffered an injury during training on Sunday and had to leave the ice early. According to coach Jon Cooper, Brown is “not well enough to skate.” He hopes this is a short-term injury and Brown can re-sign with the team.

Defensively, the Lightning will use the Hedman/Moser duo for the first time to see how the newly signed defenseman performs offsides. If it works, the matchups they put on the ice could be pretty close to the ones they had on opening night.

One final roster update: It appears there were no waiver claims today, so Derrick Pouliot and Tobie Paquette-Bisson were cleared. Expect them to be sent to Syracuse to bolster a completely revamped defensive group.