TAMPA -- Steven Stamkos knows the Penguins played -- and lost -- a game on the other side of this state Tuesday evening.
He's well aware that they're playing without some of their most prominent and productive forwards, too.
Stamkos just isn't convinced that any of that will matter much when the Penguins face the Lightning tonight at 8:08 p.m. at Amalie Arena.
"I don't think (facing a team that played the previous night) is as big an advantage as everyone makes it out to be," he said after the Lightning's game-day skate. "If anything, you're a little fatigued -- we know how we feel coming off a back-to-back -- but it shouldn't really change much.
"You can't go into the game thinking, 'OK, we have a tired team. It's going to be an easy night.' It's the National Hockey League."
His final observation is beyond dispute. Some of Stamkos' teammates, though, don't necessarily share his belief that facing the Penguins when they're playing on consecutive nights won't be an advantage.
"We have to be playing right away," center Tyler Johnson said. "We have to make them work a little bit. Back-to-backs are tough, mentally and physically. We have to try to make the game tough on them. Play simple, make them work and go from there."
Defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk offered a similar approach.
"The obvious thing would be to try to make them skate as much as possible," he said. "Early on in the game, we have to make sure we're consistent with putting pucks deep, making them have to go back for pucks and chase them down.
"And once we're in the offensive zone, grinding it out on cycles and making them take hits to make plays. Little things like that start to wear teams down over time."
While the Penguins are expected to be without six injured players tonight, Tampa Bay is scheduled to get its lone injured player back. That would be center Cedric Paquette, of whom coach Jon Cooper said today "there's a good chance" he'll be in the lineup.
But even though the likes of Evgeni Malkin and Alex Galchenyuk will again be absent for the Penguins, Stamkos noted that the Penguins have, for the most part, performed well without them.
"The parity in this league is the best in sport," he said. "Even if you're missing a few guys, guys are going to step up and get an opportunity and work hard. (Before) the last two games, I think they won five in a row without some big names in the lineup."
Shattenkirk and Johnson agreed with Stamkos on that point.
"Obviously, we're not game-planning for someone like Malkin, who's a force on their team, but sometimes you get some guys in there who come in hungry and they're looking to prove something," Shattenkirk said. "You don't take them lightly at all. They're a team that always has their structure in place, no matter who's in the lineup. It's something they pride themselves on. Because of that, you have to be ready for them, no matter who's playing."
His observations mirrored those of Johnson.
"Any team in the NHL is going to be a good team," Johnson said. "They're missing some big parts, but the guys who are filling those roles are still NHL players. It's going to be tough, regardless. They have a really good, skilled team that works really well together."