Game #30 – Tampa Bay Lightning (13-11-5) at Vancouver Canucks (18-9-1)
Time: 10:00 PM EST
Location: Rogers Arena
Broadcast/Streaming: BSSUN, ESPN+, HULU
Opponent’s Site: Nucks Misconduct
Preview
When these two teams met a month ago, the Lightning had one of their typical mental vapor locks at the beginning of the second period and turned a one-goal lead into a one-goal deficit. Based on the fact that they were coming off a miserable road trip, it seems like the wheels were flying off the season just a handful of games in. They managed to win after ripping off four straight goals in the game and Lightning Nation breathed a sigh of relief.
Since then, it’s kind of been more of the same for the Lightning as they’ve played well for a night before stumbling the next. Meanwhile, the Canucks have become one of the surprise teams of the league, riding the brilliant play of Quinn Hughes and Elias Pettersson to the second spot in the Pacific Division. After the loss to the Bolts, Vancouver ripped off wins in eight of their next nine games. Things have evened out a bit since then, but it looks like the Canucks are going to be a team to reckon with in the Western Conference this year.
Offense has been the key to their prominence this season as they are leading the league with 3.81 goals per game. Along with Pettersson (37 points) and Hughes (36 points) old friend J.T. Miller (40 points) and Brock Boeser (32 points) have been powering the offense.
They haven’t slouched defensively, notching a top-10 defense, allowing just 2.6 goals per game. After a bit of a stumble last season, Thatcher Demko has rebounded with a Vezina-finalist performance, posting a 2.49 GA, .916 SV%, and 13.06 GSAx. The addition of Nikita Zadorov, who has slid into a spot on the second pairing with Tyler Myers, has helped keep some of the pressure off of him.
As for the Lightning. Well, it’s going to be interesting to see who takes to the ice today. One of the reasons we held this preview is to see if we could figure out the lines based on the morning skate. Per Gabby Shirley, it was an optional skate that 13 players (Victor Hedman joined them after her initial Tweet). Coach Cooper has indicated that a flu bug has been going around the locker room and it’s claimed Steven Stamkos and Jonas Johansson (possible eBug situation!). Hedman, who missed the third period of their game against Seattle, is dealing with an undisclosed injury.
The Lightning recalled Mitchel Chaffee and Philippe Myers in response to the possibility that some players may miss the game tonight. The fact that Hedman was on the ice for practice this morning is a good sign that he might be able to go tonight. If not, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Coach Cooper go 11/7 again tonight with Myers filling in.
It’s always hard to judge how a team is playing when they’re not able to practice and the line-up is jumbled around due to illness. Unfortunately, with their early season losses the Lightning haven’t given themselves much wiggle room for games like this. Despite having multiple games in hand on teams around them, they are on the outside of the playoff race looking in right now. They have to find a way to pull points out of the next couple of games. If they can find a way to add at least 3 points over the next two games, it’ll be a pretty successful trip.
Stats Match-up
| Game #30 | Tampa Bay Lightning | Vancouver Canucks |
| Overall Record | 13-11-5 | 18-9-1 |
| Home Record | 8-3-3 | 10-3-1 |
| Road Record | 5-8-2 | 8-6-0 |
| Goals For | 95 | 107 |
| Goals Against | 102 | 73 |
| xGF | 93.9 | 91.16 |
| xGA | 91.13 | 88.47 |
| Power Play | 29.9% | 26% |
| Penalty Kill | 81.8% | 75% |
Lines
Tampa Bay Lightning Projected Lines
Forwards
Steven Stamkos – Brayden Point – Nikita Kucherov
Brandon Hagel – Anthony Cirelli – Michael Eyssimont
Tanner Jeannot – Nick Paul – Alex Barré-Boulet
Tyler Motte – Luke Glendening – Austin Watson
Defenders
Victor Hedman – Nick Perbix
Mikhail Sergachev – Erik Cernak
Calvin de Haan – Darren Raddysh
Goalies
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Jonas Johansson
Vancouver Canucks Projected Lines
Forwards
Ilya Mikheyev – Elias Pettersson – Sam Lafferty
Nils Hoglander – J.T.Miller – Brock Boeser
Dakota Joshua – Teddy Blueger – Conor Garland
Andrei Kuzmenko – Nils Aman – Phil di Giuseppe
Defenders
Quinn Hughes – Filip Hronek
Nikita Zadorov – Tyler Myers
Ian Cole – Noah Juulsen
Goalies
Thatcher Demko
Casey DeSmith
Question of the Night
Who is in the line-up?
