Game Twenty-four: San Jose Sharks (10-13-5) at Tampa Bay Lightning (12-9-2)
Time: 7:00 PM EST
Location: Amalie Arena
TV/Stream/Radio: FDSNSUN, NBCSCA, ESPN+, 102.5 FM
Odds: Lightning -290
After a four-day break, a hopefully healthy Tampa Bay Lightning squad will take on the San Jose Sharks tonight. When last they played, the Bolts were without the services of Nick Paul, Mitchell Chaffee, and Nikita Kucherov. If everything works out, they should have at least two of the three forwards back in the line-up tonight.
Nick Paul was a full participant in practice on Tuesday and Wednesday, a sign that he is good to go. Nikita Kucherov was off the ice on Tuesday, but returned for the first half of practice on Wednesday. Chaffee was on the ice as well, but wearing a no-contact jersey, so there is a good chance he’ll need a little more time off.
If Paul and Kucherov can go tonight, then things will start to look a little more normal up front, with Paul joining the second line – a combination that Coach Cooper was exploring right before his injury. If that is the case, then Cameron Atkinson would join Conor Geekie and Gage Goncalves on the third line.
[update: Per Coach Cooper, Chaffee and Kucherov are OUT tonight.]
Regardless of who is on the ice, the Lightning will have their hands full with a young Sharks squad that is enjoying their current road trip. They kicked things off with a 4-2 win over Seattle, and then followed it up with a 2-1 overtime win against Washington. For a team that started off without a win in their first nine games, things have turned around and gone 10-6-3. Even their losses are close as a 5-2 setback against Dallas is the only time they’ve lost by more than two goals in almost a month.
Prized top-draft pick Macklin Celebrini has shook off some early season injuries to post 15 points (8 goals, 7 assists) in 16 games. Mikael Granlund, who could be a top target at the trade deadline, is following up his 60-point season from last year with another strong campaign as he’s posted 29 points (10 goals, 19 assists) in 26 games.
While their scoring has been adequate, they have struggled to keep the puck out of the net as they are allowing 3.32 goals per game. Most of their issues have been at 5v5, where they’ve allowed 64 goals. MacKenzie Blackwood has a respectable .909 SV% and a 2.94 GAA, especially considering that the Sharks have allowed a league-leading 897 shots on goal this season.
The Lightning should get their share of shots on net tonight, but they need to focus on defending their net first. Even with their injuries, offense hasn’t really been their problem. Getting back to defensive zone responsibility and clean breakouts is more important than piling up a bunch of scoring chances and shots.
There are two points on the table tonight, and after falling behind the rest of the division in games played, the Lightning have to make sure that they pick up both of them. They have games in hand against all of the teams around them, but that doesn’t mean anything if they don’t win them.
Potential Lines
Tampa Bay Lightning
Forwards
Jake Guentzel – Brayden Point – Nikita Kucherov (?)
Brandon Hagel – Anthony Cirelli – Nick Paul (?)
Gage Goncalves – Conor Geekie – Cameron Atkinson
Zemgus Girgensons – Luke Glendening – Mikey Eyssimont
Defense
Victor Hedman – JJ Moser
Ryan McDonagh – Erik Cernak
Emil Lilleberg – Nick Perbix/Darren Raddysh
Goaltender
Andrei Vasilevskiy
San Jose Sharks
Forwards
William Eklund – Macklin Celebrini – Fabian Zetterlund
Luke Kunin – Alex Wennberg – Tyler Toffoli
Klim Kostin – Mikael Granlund – Will Smith
Carl Grundstrom – Nico Strum – Ty Dellandrea
Defense
Jake Walman – Cody Ceci
Mario Ferraro – Timothy Liljegren
Henry Thrun – Jan Rutta
Goaltender
Mackenzie Blackwood
Vitek Vanecek
