Game #39 – Tampa Bay Lightning (18-15-5) at Winnipeg Jets (22-9-4)
Time: 8:00 PM EST
Location: Canada Life Centre
Broadcast/Streaming: BSSUN, ESPN+, Hulu
Opponent’s Site: Arctic Ice Hockey
Preview
Multiple times over the last two weeks, Lightning head coach Jon Cooper stressed how important the six-game stretch over the holidays was to the team. With five of the six games on home ice, the Lightning needed to take as many points as they could in order to stay in the mix. Despite a small hiccup after Christmas, they did end up winning four of the six for eight points which enabled them to creep into the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.
Holding onto that spot is going to be difficult as they head out onto the road for a three-game stretch where each night will bring new challenges. First up will be a Winnipeg Jets team that 6th in the league with 48 points and second in goals against at 2.49/G. Then it will be off to Minnesota where the Wild have suddenly remembered how to win hockey games as they are 7-3 in their last 10 games. The trip wraps up in Boston on Saturday. Good luck.
As for the Jets, they aren’t wowing anyone with their offense as 3.34 Goals/G is 11th in the league. Defensively, they are a solid middle of the pack team statistically, but they’ve only allowed 87 goals in 35 games and at 5v5 they’ve only dug 49 pucks out of the back of the net. That is, well, it’s impressive. For comparison the Lightning have allowed 90 goals at 5v5 this season.
Connor Hellebuyck is a huge reason for their success. He’s put himself back into the Vezina discussion with a .919 SV%, 2.34 GAA, and whopping 17.54 GSAx in 26 games. The players in front of him are helping him out by limiting the amount of shots that get through as the Jets are 6th in the league in shots against at just 27.24 per game at 5v5. For the Lightning, a team that occasionally has issues getting shots on net, it could be a tough match-up.
Winnipeg’s offense, which relies more on rushes and transitions than a cycle offense could also pose a problem for the Lightning, who are facing a little adversity in regards to their defense. Even on a good day their aggressive system with the d-men in the offensive zone allows for other other teams to counter with rushes. The Tampa Bay blueline might be pretty far from a good day as Haydn Fleury is on LTIR and Mikhail Sergachev may be returning for a lower-body injury. Erik Cernak left their last game with an injury after a big hit from Josh Anderson and is day-to-day. If Cernak or Sergachev can’t go, then Philippe Myers will likely draw into the line-up for only the second time this season.
Kyle Connor (17 goals, 11 assists) and Nikolaj Ehlers (11 goals, 15 assists) are two players that could be quite dangerous on the counterattacks. It will be imperative that the Bolts play a full team defense if they don’t want to hang Andrei Vasilevskiy out to dry. The Lightning forwards will have to be aware of where they are on the ice and make sure to cover for any of the blueliners that might pinch in on a play. Also, the Bolts forwards will have to be wary of their gap control and make sure they’re not flying out of the zone too quickly and leaving their defensemen with no passing options on the breakout.
It should be a pretty fast-paced game to kick off 2024 for both teams. If they want to pull out a victory, the Lightning will have to be at the top of their game, something that they’ve struggled to do at times this season.
Stats Match-up
| Game #39 | Tampa Bay Lightning | Winnipeg Jets |
| Overall Record | 18-15-5 | 35-22-9 |
| Home Record | 11-5-3 | 12-5-2 |
| Road Record | 7-10-2 | 10-4-2 |
| Goals For | 125 | 117 |
| Goals Against | 131 | 88 |
| xGF | 119.78 | 107.67 |
| xGA | 124.05 | 105.57 |
| Power Play | 28.9% | 17.3% |
| Penalty Kill | 79.8% | 75.0% |
| Last 10 Games | 6-4-0 | 7-1-2 |
Lines
Tampa Bay Lightning Projected Lines
Forwards
Nick Paul – Brayden Point – Nikita Kucherov
Brandon Hagel – Anthony Cirelli – Steven Stamkos
Michael Eyssimont – Tyler Motte – Alex Barré-Boulet
Tanner Jeannot – Luke Glendening – Austin Watson
Defenders
Victor Hedman – Nick Perbix
Mikhail Sergachev (?) – Erik Cernak (?)
Calvin de Haan – Darren Raddysh
Goalies
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Jonas Johansson
Winnipeg Jets Projected Lines
Forwards
Nikolaj Ehlers – Mark Scheifele – Gabriel Vilardi
Cole Perfetti – Vlad Namestnikov – Alex Iafallo
Nino Niederreiter – Adam Lowry – Mason Appleton
Morgan Barron – Dominic Toninato – Axel Jonsson-Fjallby
Defenders
Josh Morrissey – Dylan DeMelo
Brenden Dillon – Neal Pionk
Dylan Samberg – Nate Schmidt
Goalies
Connor Hellebuyck
Laurent Brossoit
Question of the Night
Can the Lightning generate energy without getting down by two goals or having something weird happen?
