Tampa Bay Lightning at Carolina Hurricanes preview

by John Fontana on Nov 1, 2011 1:17 PM EDT in '11-'12 game previews

WHERE: RBC Arena, Raleigh, North Carolina
WHEN: 7 PM EDT | | TICKETS: Check Availability
MEDIA: Sun Sports (cable),970 WFLA (radio)
OPPONENT COVERAGE: Canes Country, Sweet Tea, Barbecue and Bodychecks

Five points separate first and last place in the Southeast Division. Two points, a single win, is the difference between second place and fourth in the division. It's early. The Bolts and tonight's opponent, the Carolina Hurricanes, are only playing their 12th game of the season tonight (and the Washington Capitals, the division leader, not yet playing their 10th game).

If the standings at current are an indication of the balance of the division for the remainder of the season, then it's going to be an all-out war between Southeast Division teams as the season moves forward

Mattias Ritola is back in the lineup tonight for the Lightning. He's been forced to sit while Tom Pyatt, Blair Jones, and Ryan Shannon have all seen playing time. It's part of the burden of the Bolts carrying 14 forwards - guys who contribute end up sitting.

To that end, despite the fact he has yet to score his first career NHL goal, Brett Connolly has not been asked to watch any games from the press box yet. Goal scoring is not the only contribution that is expected of players, and Connolly is doing all of the right things in the early going. He's just not marking the scoresheet so often. His efforts on the line with Martin St. Louis and Vincent Lecavalier are part of what's enabled Vinny's resurgence this season (which was the features in both the Times and Tribune today).

Speaking of players in and out of the lineup, Marty St. Louis and Ryan Maloen were both kept out of practice yesterday. St. Louis had a "body maintenance" day, while Malone does have an undisclosed upper obdy injury. Ryan skated this morning in Raleigh and is expected in the lineup tonight against the Canes.

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woo! RBC! driving distance!

this is the last Bolts trip here until March 3rd, so make it count.

Heel for school, Vol for life!

Bolts, Preds, Canes (childhood team, home state team, hometown team). Canes mini-STH. Southern hockey solidarity!

by Incipient_Senescence on Nov 1, 2011 1:20 PM EDT reply actions

Raw Charge road trip party in Raleigh on March 3rd! Who’s got the tailgate going? All are welcome!

"You don't have enough talent to win on talent alone." -Herb Brooks

Raw Charge, an SBN Tampa Bay Lightning community. Follow me on Twitter: @dagmar27.

by Cassie McClellan on Nov 1, 2011 2:38 PM EDT up reply actions

tickets go on sale December 1st

around Thanksgiving, we need to get a FanPost going for details.

For the record, I know exactly where to tailgate (same place that I usually park, which is free), but I don’t actually know anything about tailgating itself, so if folks are into that, they can direct things.

Heel for school, Vol for life!

Bolts, Preds, Canes (childhood team, home state team, hometown team). Canes mini-STH. Southern hockey solidarity!

by Incipient_Senescence on Nov 1, 2011 3:09 PM EDT up reply actions

also

we seriously need to be going for the third win of the season in the RBC center when this happens. Because I want tonight to be fun.

Heel for school, Vol for life!

Bolts, Preds, Canes (childhood team, home state team, hometown team). Canes mini-STH. Southern hockey solidarity!

by Incipient_Senescence on Nov 1, 2011 3:10 PM EDT up reply actions

WOW, tempting!

North Carolina in March…beautiful weather to be outside tailgating, pre-game. :)
Dunno…we’ll see.
Should be a great game tonight, hope to see everyone on the game thread!!

@b0lted_d0wn on Twitter *** Bolted Down on Facebook
I'm kinda boring, but look me up if you're in the neighborhood. GO BOLTZ!!

by Bolted_Down on Nov 1, 2011 3:52 PM EDT up reply actions

I'll be kinda MIA on game threads for a bit

have an all-weekend conference (Fri to Sun) that I have to go to, and I’ll be at the game live tonight. I’ll probably tweet (@WillyMcGilly) a couple times from the RBC, but that’s about it.

but yeah, NC in March can be a little hit and miss, but there’s a decent chance of great weather, and there’s a 100% chance of the Bolts playing, which is the important part. so be thinking about it. later in the month, we’ll try to round people up as tickets go on sale.

Heel for school, Vol for life!

Bolts, Preds, Canes (childhood team, home state team, hometown team). Canes mini-STH. Southern hockey solidarity!

by Incipient_Senescence on Nov 1, 2011 4:05 PM EDT up reply actions