The set-up: The 36-13-3 Tampa Bay Lightning have maintained their league-best point total (75) by going 5-2-0 so far with just one contest remaining on the team's eight-game road trip which spanned almost three weeks, as it was sandwiched around the All-Star break. The Lightning complete their trek with a visit to the 22-24-4 Edmonton Oilers on Monday. The Oilers have been a huge disappointment this season but have gone 4-1-1 in their last six games. Still, Edmonton has a lot of work to do to climb back into the playoff race, as the Oilers' 48 points leaves them 13 points behind the final wild card team in the West (the Wild have 61 points).

Tampa Bay: Nikita Kucherov had his goal-scoring drought reach 10 games but recorded a pair of assists Saturday to push his league-leading total to 66 points. Captain Steven Stamkos notched his sixth point in five contests last time out to reach 60 in a season for the sixth time in his career while Matthew Peca has recorded two goals and three assists during his four-game point streak, posting a plus-8 rating in that span. Versatile forward Yanni Gourde scored for the fourth time in six games Saturday and has 18 goals on the season, tying him for second in the league among rookies. Goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy has stopped 149 of 156 shots while winning his last four starts and also leads the league with 31 victories. He owns a 2.22 GAA and .930 SP, meaning he should get serious consideration for the Vezina Trophy.

Edmonton: Connor McDavid is the reigning Hart Trophy winner and is doing his best to start the process of Edmonton climbing back into the playoff picture. He has recorded nine points in his last seven contests (including two goals in Thursday's 4-3 overtime loss to Colorado), giving him 17 goals and 56 points. "That's our leader," Oilers head coach Todd McLellan told reporters. "He's got to provide it all over the rink, offensively and defensively, and the rest of the group has to follow." Leon Draisaitl is second on the team with 42 points, after registering a goal and eight assists in his last seven contests. Cam Talbot (18-17-2, 3.14 goals-against average, .901 save percentage), who has won three of his last four starts, could return to the lineup after missing Thursday's contest due to illness.

The pick: Edmonton must improve on special teams if it is to continue surging as the team has gone 0-for-17 on the power play over its last eight games and allowed five man-advantage tallies over the last four. However, can that be expected to happen against the league's best team? Hard to see it with Talbot expected back in net for Edmonton after missing one game because of illness. He is coming off his worst month of the season, going 4-5-0 with a 3.57 goals-against average and .890 save percentage in 10 games. The Lightning are 4-0-1 in the last five meetings but did lose 4-3 in a shootout at Edmonton last season. Make Tampa Bay a 10* play.