Lightning at Flames: One more before home

Game #32 – Tampa Bay Lightning (14-12-5) at Calgary Flames (11-14-5)
Time: 10:00 PM EST
Location: Scotiabank Saddledome
Broadcast/Streaming: BSSUN, ESPN+, Hulu

Opponent’s Site: Calgary Flames

Preview

Congratulations fans, this is it. It’s the last 10:00 PM start time of 2023. Your sleep won’t be interrupted by late night Lightning games again until mid-March. It’s been a varied brand of hockey that we’ve watched over the last week or so as the Lightning have had moments of exhilaration like Nikita Kucerov’s OT-winner against Seattle and whatever that madness was in the third period against Edmonton mixed in with incompetence like the loss to Nashville and whatever happened in the second period against Edmonton.

Through it all, they still have a chance to come back from a west coast road trip with more wins that losses as they enter tonight’s game against a beatable Flames team with a 2-2 record. Hitting their two-day break with six out of ten points gained would be huge for this team and a sign that finally, after many, many hiccups, they are on the right path.

There is a good chance that it will be another game without Victor Hedman on the blueline, but at least their forward ranks are healthy for the first time all season. Hopefully that means we’ll also see a little stability among the lines and they will get a chance to gel a bit as we steer towards the halfway mark of the season. Right now there does seem to be a bit of logic to the lines as Alex Barré-Boulet joins two other elite offensive talents on the top line, while Brandon Hagel, Anthony Cirelli, and Tanner Jeannot comprise a hybrid line that can score and harass the opponents at the same time.

The fourth line is what a fourth line should be, physical and defensive-minded with a solitary mission to get the puck out of their zone and into the offensive zone to set up the other lines. That leaves the third line as another potential shot of offense with Steven Stamkos, Nick Paul, and Conor Sheary. Not the fastest line in hockey, but quicker than you might think. While there might be the traditional playmaker that Stamkos is used to having on a line to set him up, Sheary is a decent passer and Paul is a condor of a man that can occupy a lot of space in front of the net and also retrieve pucks when needed.

With Coach Cooper’s inherent restlessness when it comes to matching players up, these combinations might not last long, but for now it would behoove him to give them some time to cook and hopefully spark some consistent 5v5 offense.

The win against Edmonton might not be the model that Coach Cooper wants the team to emulate moving forward, but at least they showed a bit of finishing skill at even-strength, posting four of their seven goals despite generating just 7 high-danger chances. It was also nice to see at least a goal come off of sustained zone time and not a rush, which seems to be the only way they’ve scored lately. If the Lightning want to continue with consistent offense, they have to be able to set up in their opponent’s zone and turn chances into goals.

Calgary presents an interesting challenge because, despite the fact that they are slightly above the midpoint in allowing scoring and high-danger chances at 5v5, they are allowing 3 goals per 60 minutes of play, tied with the Lightning for the third-highest in the league so far this season. Not having their top netminder in Jacob Markstrom, out with a broken finger, available accounts for part of that issue.

They’ve lost six of their last seven games, allowing 29 goals in those games. Their last game might have been their best of the stretch as they lost in a shootout to Minnesota, 3-2 with Dan Vladar stopping 30-of-32, but the losing stretch has knocked them out of a playoff spot for now. Struggles on the power play are not helping as well. They don’t have a single player with more than one power play goal on the season and their 12.1% conversion is 5th-worst in the league.

They also seem to be a team without a purpose. Rumors have circulated throughout the season that several of their soon-to-be free agents wish to be elsewhere and they’ve already obliged one by trading Nikita Zadorov to Vancouver for a couple of draft picks. Noah Hanifin is also rumored to be on the trade block. The team that the Lightning are facing tonight could look very different by the time the Flames come to Tampa in March.

Stats Match-up

Lines

Tampa Bay Lightning Projected Lines

Forwards
Alex Barré-Boulet – Brayden Point – Nikita Kucherov
Brandon Hagel – Anthony Cirelli – Tanner Jeannot
Steven Stamkos – Nick Paul – Conor Sheary

Tyler Motte – Luke Glendening – Tanner Jeannot

Defenders
Mikhail Sergachev – Erik Cernak

Calvin de Haan – Darren Raddysh

Haydn Fleury – Nick Perbix

Goalies
Andrei Vasilevskiy

Jonas Johansson

Calgary Flames Projected Lines

Forwards
Andrew Mangiapane – Elias Lindholm – Yegor Sharangovich

Connor Zary – Nazem Kadri – Martin Pospisl

Jonathan Huberdeau – Mikael Backlund – Blake Coleman

A.J. Greer – Adam Ruzicka – Dillon Dube

Defenders
Noah Hanafin – Rasmus Andersson

Jordan Oesterle – MacKenzie Weegar

Dennis Gilbert – Nick Desimone

Goalies

Dustin Wolf

Daniel Vlader

Question of the Night

Can the Lightning string two wins together on the road?