Healthy? It’s all relative: Devils at Lightning preview

Game Nineteen: New Jersey Devils (13-4-1) at Tampa Bay Lightning (9-7-2)

Time: 7:00 PM EST

Location: Benchmark International Arena, Where Kurt Angle beat The Undertaker for the WWE Championship at Survivor Series 2000

TV/Stream/Radio: The Spot, SN, NHLN, MSGSN, 102.5 FM, Lightning App

Odds: Lightning -170

Know the Opponents: All About the Jersey

Another night and another battle between two teams not featuring their very best. It’s the third game in a row where the Tampa Bay Lightning are facing a team that is missing at least one of their key players. For the New Jersey Devils, it’s Jack Hughes, their dynamic young centerman who suffered a “non-hockey” hand injury at a Chicago steakhouse during the team’s recent road trip.

Much like the Panthers and the Canucks, it’s not just one player out for the Devils as Zach MacEwen, Connor Brown, Johnathan Kovacevic, Brett Pesce, Cody Glass, and Evgenii Dadonov are all on injured reserve. Oh, and Dougie Hamilton has missed the last few games as well.

The Lightning aren’t sending them any sympathy cards as they’re dealing with their own issues. At least among the forwards, things seem to be trending in a better direction as Brandon Hagel was back for Sunday’s game, and it appears Dominic James may be ready to return as well. The defense is another story.

Still, the games have to be played, and the Lightning should have a bit of a grudge tonight. Their early-season loss to the Devils was one of their worst games of the year while their third period against the Canucks on Sunday wasn’t anything to write home about either. Both of those instances featured the Lightning doing a lot of the damage to themselves with turnovers and sloppy play in their own zone leading to the majority of the goals they surrendered.

It’s another night where the Lightning are going to need a complete team effort to pull off the win. New Jersey, despite their lengthy injured list, is a really solid club with 13 wins in their first 18 games. They also tend to play long games. They are currently on a stretch where their last five games, of which they’ve won four, have all gone to overtime or a shootout.

If the Lightning want to avoid overtime and pick up two points, it would be a good time for a couple of their struggling forwards to find the back of the net. Brayden Point (1 goal in his last 15 games), Oliver Bjorkstrand (1 goal in 18 games), and Gage Goncalves (1 goal in 18 games) are all off to less than ideal starts on the season. At some point the dam will break for them, but their struggles to put the puck in the net are a large reason why the Lightning’s offense has struggled to start the season.

Potential Lines

Tampa Bay Lightning

Forwards:

Defense:

Goaltenders:

New Jersey Devils

Forwards:

Defense:

Goaltenders: