Game Seventy-three: New York Islanders (32-29-10) at Tampa Bay Lightning (42-25-5)
Time: 2:00 PM EST
Location: Amalie Arena, Tampa
TV/Stream/Radio: FDSNSUN, MSGSN, ESPN+, 102.5 FM, Lightning App
Odds: Lightning – 230
Know the Opponents: Lighthouse Hockey
Story Lines and Notes
It’s been a pretty good home stand for the Tampa Bay Lightning so far. After losing two on the road they’ve bounced back with convincing victories over the Penguins (6-1) and the Utah Hockey Club (8-0). Granted both teams were on playoff fumes, but the Bolts took care of business and banked four important points. Today’s opponent, the New York Islanders, are outside of the playoff party right now, but just by a point.
The Islanders are right in the middle of a group of five times that have between 75 and 72 points, and they are all pushing and shoving for that final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. Ottawa has distanced themselves a bit and hold onto the first spot with 81 points. New York is coming into today’s game with a three game losing streak, with two of those losses coming in overtime/shootout form. So at least they picked up a point, right?
Finding consistent offense since the trade deadline has been an issue for them. With Brock Nelson now in Colorado and Mathew Barzal on injured reserve, they haven’t had too many forwards step up to fill the void. They do still have Ilya Sorokin in net, though, and he’s been keeping them in games by posting a .913 SV% and 2.68 GAA over the last ten games, eight of which he’s played in.
As for the Bolts, well, they’re rolling right now. The top players are scoring, the defense is defending, and Andrei Vasilevskiy has one goal allowed in his last two starts. Perhaps the lines are starting to come together as Jon Cooper has moved Nikita Kucherov back to the top line and settled in on Gage Goncalves, Yanni Gourde, and Oliver Bjorkstrand as their third line. We’ll see if he continues to roll with 11/7 as he has for the majority of the games since the deadline.
Stats
| New York | 5v5 Stats over Last 10 Games | Tampa Bay |
| 2.24 | GPG | 2.99 |
| 2.24 | GAPG | 2.39 |
| 12.9% | PP% | 23.1% |
| 78.3% | PK% | 91.7% |
| 51.07% | 5v5 Shot Attempt % | 54.71% |
| 51.32% | 5v5 High Danger Chances % | 53.46% |
| 7.69% | 5v5 Shooting % | 10.82% |
| .920 | 5v5 Save % | .898 |
| Bo Horvat – 4 | G Leader (all situations) | Tony Cirelli – 6 |
| Tony DeAngelo – 7 Noah Dobson – 7 | A Leader (all situations) | Nikita Kucherov – 9 |
| Tony DeAngelo – 9 Noah Dobson – 9 | P Leader (all situations) | Nikita Kucherov – 13 |
| Adam Pelech – 10 | PIM Leader (all situations) | Emil Lilleberg – 15 |
| 4-3-3 | Record | 5-4-1 |
Potential Lines
Tampa Bay Lightning
Forwards:
| Jake Guentzel | Brayden Point | Nikita Kucherov |
| Brandon Hagel | Anthony Cirelli | Nick Paul |
| Gage Goncalves | Yanni Gourde | Oliver Bjorkstrand |
| Zemgus Girgensons | Luke Glendening | Mitchell Chaffee |
Defense:
| Victor Hedman | J.J. Moser |
| Ryan McDonagh | Erik Cernak |
| Emil Lilleberg | Nick Perbix |
Goaltenders:
| Andrei Vasilevskiy |
| Jonas Johansson |
New York Islanders
Forwards:
| Simon Holmstrom | Bo Horvat | Kyle Palmieri |
| Anders Lee | J.G. Pageau | Anthony Duclair |
| Pierre Engvall | Casey Cizikas | Hudson Fasching |
| Maxim Tsyplakov | Kyle MacLean | Marc Gatcomb |
Defense:
| Alexander Romonov | Tony DeAngelo |
| Adam Pelech | Noah Dobson |
| Adam Boqvist | Ryan Pulock |
Goaltenders:
| Ilya Sorokin |
| Marcus Hogberg |
