Lightning's Malone will play against Avs; Stamkos uncertain

Ryan Malone is a go while Steven Stamkos is a solid maybe.

The Tampa Bay Lightning's top two scorers this season with a combined 33 goals were questionable heading into tonight's meeting with the Colorado Avalanche after sustaining injuries that took them out of Wednesday's home loss to Edmonton. But both were on the ice for the full morning skate Wednesday at Pepsi Center.

Malone, who was coy about what part of his lower body was injured, said he felt good, had no pain and expects to be in the lineup tonight.

Stamkos, however, is questionable. He will take part in pregame warm-ups before deciding whether he can make it through a whole game.

While the team listed Stamkos' injury as a upper-body ailment, he was struck on his right wrist with a puck during Wednesday's game that left his hand bloodied, an image which was caught by cameras as he headed to the bench. Stamkos tried to come back in the game, but took only two shifts in the second period before returning to the trainer's room.

X-rays taken Thursday morning confirmed there was no bone damage to his wrist.

"It's not so much the cut itself, it's more the swelling and the tenderness in the bone,'' Stamkos said. "But it didn't feel bad (today), better than I expected.''

Stamkos wore a bandage on the wrist this morning and there still was some swelling in the area. He appeared to work gingerly with the wrist during drills in the morning and planned to return to the Pepsi Center early to receive additional treatment in an attempt to bring the swelling down.

"We'll have to wait until tonight to see how it feels,'' Stamkos said. "We'll get a couple more hours of treatment and see. Hopefully it will be OK. Obviously (your wrist) is a big part of your game, but if I feel OK, I want to play. We'll see how it feels tonight.''

Nuts and Bolts
Defenseman Lukas Krajicek was placed on waivers today and defenseman David Hale will be a healthy scratch. The team will have to scratch one forward, as well, once Stamkos decides whether he can play. ... Defenseman Matt Smaby will play his second game this season. Kurtis Foster will play consecutive games on defense after splitting time the past month between defense and forward. ... Former Tampa Bay captain Dave Andreychuk is traveling with the team and will serve as sideline reporter for broadcasts on Sun Sports. ... Goaltender Antero Niittymaki will start in net after Mike Smith started the past three games.