The Tampa Bay Lightning havent lost three straight all season and are returning home to face a lowly opponent enduring the longest road slide in franchise history. The Edmonton Oilers, though, have given Tampa Bay problems in the past - including a victory this season. The Lightning can stretch their home win streak to six games Thursday night as they meet an Oilers team that has dropped 13 straight on the road. Tampa Bay (27-14-4) fell 7-3 at Philadelphia on Monday and 4-3 at Boston the next night. Star center Steven Stamkos had three goals in those defeats with four in the last three games, though his club has hit a bit of a rough patch after winning seven of its previous eight contests. We lost two in a row, coach Jon Cooper said. Its happened to us before. Big thing for us is we cant make it three in a row. The Lightning played Tuesday without All-Star forward Tyler Johnson and defenseman Victor Hedman after they suffered lower-body injuries versus the Flyers. Cooper said both were day to day. Johnson is among the NHLs leaders with a team-best 46 points while Hedman also missed 18 games earlier this season with a hand injury. One of the contests Hedman missed was a 3-2 defeat at Edmonton on Oct. 20. That marked the Oilers first victory after a 0-4-1 start as Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored the winner with 3:25 remaining. Edmonton (10-25-9) improved to 5-1-1 in its last seven matchups with Tampa Bay. The Lightnings top point leaders - Johnson, Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov - combined for one assist. That score looks like an anomaly now since Tampa Bay is the NHLs highest-scoring team with 3.22 goals per game while Edmonton yields 3.32 per contest for the leagues second-worst mark. Oilers winger Teddy Purcell will return to Tampa Bay for the first time after spending the previous four-plus seasons with the Lightning. Purcell, who had dinner with some of his former teammates when Tampa Bay came to Edmonton in October, was traded in the offseason to give the Lightning salary cap room. His new team is 0-7-6 on the road since a 3-1 victory over the New York Rangers on Nov. 9. Purcell was part of the last Tampa Bay team to capture six straight at home - a seven-game run Oct. 24-Nov. 27, 2013. Edmonton began this four-game trip with Tuesdays 4-2 loss to St. Louis. Well-traveled former Tampa Bay winger Benoit Pouliot scored both goals, giving him four in a three-game run. Ben Scrivens made 25 saves as he fell to 0-5-5 with a 3.65 goals-against average in 10 road starts. Weve had those struggles at home, too, Scrivens said. Were struggling in almost every building were playing in, and its a frustrating thing to be going through. Scrivens has captured three of four starts against the Lightning, a club that backup Viktor Fasth has never faced. Tampa Bays Ben Bishop is 14-3-1 with a 2.00 GAA at home and 2-1-0 with a 1.97 GAA in four starts against the Oilers. Custom Football Jerseys Throwback . Pretty good hitting, too. Dan Haren pitched six innings and sparked the go-ahead rally with a single, leading Los Angeles to another win over the skidding Atlanta Braves, 4-2 on Tuesday night. Football Jerseys Throwback Outlet . Numbers Game looks into the Wild getting Matt Moulson from Buffalo. The Wild Get: LW Matt Moulson and LW Cody McCormick. http://www.cheapfootballthrowback.com/ . Gauteng High Court Judge Dunstan Mlambo ruled Tuesday that South African media houses will be allowed to install three remote controlled cameras in court for the Olympic athletes trial starting next week to capture images that likely will be seen by millions around the world. Wholesale Football Jerseys Throwback . Both had to wait out a rain interruption lasting nearly five hours before taking comprehensive third-round victories to join Carling Bassett-Seguso (1983, 1986), Patricia Hy-Boulais (1996-97) and Daniel Nestor (1999) as Canadians who made it into the second week of a major. Discount Football Jerseys Throwback .com) - Fair Grounds commences its road to the Kentucky Derby Saturday with the 71st running of the $200,000 Lecomte Stakes.FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- The Atlanta Falcons have activated linebacker Sean Weatherspoon from the injured list and signed offensive tackle Sean Locklear. Weatherspoon, one of the teams defensive leaders, rejoined the 53-man roster Wednesday. He sustained a foot injury in Week 2 and missed the last seven games. The Falcons went 1-6 while he was out. The 310-pound Locklear spent most of his 10-year career with Seeattle before moving to Washington in 2011 and the New York Giants last season.dddddddddddd He played in 12 games with 10 starts for the Giants. The Falcons had an opening on the line after left tackle Sam Baker went on injured reserve Tuesday with a knee problem. To clear a spot for Weatherspoon, the Falcons released linebacker Thomas Howard. Atlanta (2-7) plays at Tampa Bay (1-8) on Sunday. ' ' '