Lightning at Blue Jackets Preview: It’s a delicate point of the season

Game #53 – Tampa Bay Lightning (27-20-5) at Columbus Blue Jackets (16-24-10)
Time: 7:00 PM EST
Location: Nationwide Arena
Broadcast/Streaming: BSSUN, BSOH, ESPN+, Hulu

Opponent’s Site: Jackets’ Canon

Preview

Throughout a long regular season there comes along several small inflection points. Depending on what happens at those moments can go a long way to determining a team’s final outcome. Tonight could be one of those points. It’s been a rough start to the road trip for the Tampa Bay Lightning as they’ve dropped the first two games, and quite frankly, have been outplayed for most of the six periods they have been on the ice.

In their last two outings they’ve given up a combined 9 goals (one empty-net) and scored just three (one on the power play). They’ve yet to lead a game and the second period has continued to give them a migraine-level headache as they’ve been outscored 5-1 in the middle 20 minutes.

Oddly enough, their underlying numbers are reflective of the their goal deficit. At 5v5 they are above water in scoring chances (55.84%), high-danger chances (57.69%), and shot attempts (56.47%). Score effects play a small part in that discrepancy, especially against the Islanders, but it’s also a throwback to their early-season woes where their mistakes, of which they are making too many, end up in the back of their net.

They enter tonight with a chance to salvage the road trip. A win and they can head to Boston with a little momentum and a chance to finish the excursion with a split. A loss and they need to beat the division-leading Bruins to avoid a sweep. Not exactly a happy situation.

There should be no more excuses heading into the game. Coach Cooper has already stated his displeasure at the schedule, and while he has a point that teams coming off of a long break should face each other, it’s also the coaches job to get the players ready mentally and physically. It’s not like the schedule was a secret.

Now they’re back on their regular schedule and taking on a team that, on paper, they should beat. It’s been another rough season for the Columbus Blue Jackets who sit at the bottom of the Metropolitan division and are hoping their draft lottery odds are better this year than last. Injuries have played a part in their struggles again. Freshman forward Adam Fantilli is the latest victim as he recovers from a deep skate cut to his leg. The Blue Jackets are also without Patrik Laine who is currently in the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program.

While Columbus might be struggling (just 3 wins in their last 10 games) they aren’t going to roll over for the Bolts. There are young players fighting for a spot on next year’s roster and veterans trying to showcase their skills for other teams at the trade deadline. Also, don’t underestimate the power of a team wanting to play spoiler either.

Since the beginning of the calendar year Johnny Gaudreau has led them in scoring with 7 points in 12 games. All points are assists and had vaulted Johnny Hockey into the team leader in points on the season with 32 (7 goals, 25 assists). The goals have come from a couple of youngsters in Dmitri Voronkov with 5 and Yegor Chinakov with 4.

It’s apparent that scoring is an issue. Since the 1st the Blue Jackets have scored a total of 27 goals. The Lightning’s trio of Steven Stamkos, Brayden Point, and Nikita Kucherov have recorded a total of 21 just amongst themselves in that same time frame.

It’s not just a win that Coach Cooper will be looking for tonight. He’ll be looking for his team to get back to the fundamentals a bit and not be so careless with the puck. Against the Islanders they were disorganized in their own zone and it slowed their breakouts and ability to transition to offense. It’s not just on the defense to solve that problem. They need support from the forwards in order to break through any forecheck Columbus throws at them.

After tonight the Lightning have a three-game run against Boston, Colorado, and Florida. They really can’t afford to look ahead to those teams though, that’s how a two-game losing streak quickly turns into a four or five-game losing streak. Take care of business in Columbus and use a win as a stepping stone heading into that gauntlet.

Top Lightning players in Columbus:

Steven Stamkos – 9 games, 9 goals, 10 assists

Brayden Point – 13 games, 4 goals, 9 assists

Andrei Vasilevskiy – 10 games, 7-3-0, 2 shutouts, .926 SV%, 2.31 GAA

Top Blue Jackets at home against Lightning:

Jack Rosolvic – 6 games, 3 goals, 3 assists

Zach Werenski – 11 games, 2 goals, 2 assists

Elvis Merzlikins – 5 games, 3-1-1, .923 SV%, 2.25 GAA

Stats Match-up

Lines

Tampa Bay Lightning Projected Lines

Forwards
Steven Stamkos – Brayden Point – Nikita Kucherov
Nick Paul – Anthony Cirelli – Brandon Hagel
Mikey Eyssimont – Tyler Motte – Conor Sheary

Austin Watson – Luke Glendening – Mitchell Chaffee

Defenders
Victor Hedman – Darren Raddysh
Emil Lilleberg – Erik Cernak
Calvin de Haan – Nick Perbix

Goalies
Andrei Vasilevskiy

Jonas Johansson

Columbus Blue Jackets Projected Lines

Forwards
Johnny Gaudreau – Boone Jenner – Yegor Chinakhov

Kent Johnson – Dmitri Voronkov – Kirill Marchenko

Alexandre Texier – Cole Sillinger – Jack Roslovic

Justin Danforth – Sean Kuraly – Mathieu Olivier

Defenders
Zach Werenski – Andrew Peeke

Ivan Provorov – Damon Severson

Jake Bean – Erik Gudbranson

Goalies
Elvis Merzlikins

Daniil Tarasov

The Playoff Race