Coach Jon Cooper is shuffling his lines for tonight’s game against the Hurricanes in an effort to reignite F Vladislav Namestnikov (0 goals, 5 assists in his last eight games) and perhaps keep things fresh before they become stale.

“You look back at our first 41 games we had some pretty good success,” Cooper said after today’s morning skate, “and as coaches you nitpick everything. But in the end, the guys have been pretty good. But part of this game is finding what works, what can work, what may not work and ultimately you got to keep guys on their toes a little bit, here. I think if things are potentially getting a little bit stale and before it reaches that point we need to open things up for a few guys.”

Cooper dropped Namestnikov to the third line where he will center for wings Yanni Gourde and Alex Killorn. Chris Kunitz was elevated to the top line with Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos.

The second line of Brayden Point, Ondrej Palat and Tyler Johnson and the fourth line of J.T. Brown, Cedric Paquette and Ryan Calahan remain the same.

“To be honest, it was not so much Kunitz playing on that line, it was how well Vlady played playing center with Gourde and Killer,” Cooper said. “You can make an argument he was our best player that night and we weren’t seeing that out of him the last couple of games. Things open up for some guys and Namestnikov is one of them. He’s having a heck of a year and to get him going and some of our other guys, that’s what we’re trying to do and so far, so good the other night.”

Namestnikov was moved to that line during Sunday’s win at Detroit and responded with two assists.

The power play lines were tweaked during the skate with Stamkos, Kucherov, Point, Palat and Hedman working on the first unit and Johnson, Namestnikov, Gourde, Killorn and Mikhail Sergachev on the second unit.

D Dan Girardi, who was hit on the back of his neck Sunday night in Detroit while blocking a shot, skated with the team this morning and is a game-time decision for tonight.

“We’re really happy if he does miss a game, and not saying he is, it will only be one,” Cooper said, “and that’s remarkable.”

The Lightning (30-9-3) enter tonight with a league-best 63 points.

G Andrei Vasilevskiy leads the NHL with 26 wins, having won 10 of his last 13 starts.

Kucherov leads the NHL with 27 goals and 58 points.

Stamkos is fourth in scoring with 51 points. His 12 power play goals are tops in the NHL and his 24 power play points are second.

Johnson has at least one point in 16 of his last 19 games.

The Hurricanes (19-14-8) enter the game having lost 7-1 on Saturday at Boston. Cooper said not to look at that loss but their record since Dec. 12. The Hurricanes were 11-11-7 before winning at Vegas that night during the second half of back-to-back games to start an 8-3-1 run.