Game #70 – Tampa Bay Lightning at Los Angeles Kings
Time: 10:30 PM
Location: Crypto.com Arena
Broadcast/Streaming: BSSUN, BSW, ESPN+, Hulu
Opponent’s Site: Jewels From the Crown
Preview
Is there a team that has had a weirder season than the Kings this season? They storm out of the gates with a 20-7-4 record and then go 3-8-6 and fire their coach. After that they put their season back together with a 12-7-1 to climb back into the playoff race. Their leading goal scorer (Trevor Moore) only has 25 and no one is averaging more than a point a game.
In their prior match-up, the Lightning squeaked out a 3-2 overtime win with Nick Perbix providing the difference-maker.
The loss was the sixth in a row for the Kings while it kicked off a five-game streak for the Bolts. Now, a couple of months later, the two teams are in similar spots. Los Angeles has 83 points and currently sit in the third spot of the Pacific Division, but Vegas is just two points behind them. If the Golden Knights catch them, the Kings drop to the second wild card spot. Tampa Bay is slowly locking themselves into a wild card spot, so both teams will likely be on the road for most of their playoff rounds.
They have taken different routes to get to where they are. Defense has been the key to Los Angeles’ success as they have allowed just 175 on the season and have a plus-39 goal differential. They’re also killing a league-leading 86.3% of penalties. The Kings don’t allow a lot of dangerous chances as their 11.44/60 is the third-lowest number in the league.
Meanwhile the Lightning just keep scoring goals with Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov leading the way. We talked about it a bit in the preview to the Sharks’ game, but the Bolts’ offense has been exquisite this month. During the winning streak Point has 8 goals while Kucherov has 16 points. Steven Stamkos also has quietly had a strong five games with 3 goals and 7 assists while winning 59.5% of his face-offs. Eleven different players have scored a goal during this streak.
By Coach Cooper’s definition, the Lightning have already had a successful road trip as they have accumulated six points on a five-game trip. They now have the chance to make it a season-defining trip if they can pull off back-to-back wins in L.A. and Anaheim.
Stats Match-up
| Game #70 | Tampa Bay Lightning | Los Angeles Kings |
| Overall Record | 38-25-6 | 36-22-11 |
| Home Record | 21-9-4 | 16-11-7 |
| Road Record | 17-16-2 | 20-11-4 |
| Goals For | 241 | 214 |
| Goals Against | 229 | 175 |
| xGF | 214.69 | 226.32 |
| xGA | 211.08 | 200.80 |
| Power Play | 28.9% | 22.6% |
| Penalty Kill | 81.7% | 86.3% |
| Last 10 Games | 7-2-1 | 6-3-1 |
Lines
Tampa Bay Lightning Projected Lines
Forwards
Anthony Duclair- Brayden Point – Nikita Kucherov
Brandon Hagel – Anthony Cirelli – Steven Stamkos
Mikey Eyssimont – Nick Paul – Conor Sheary
Tanner Jeannot – Luke Glendening – Tyler Motte
Defenders
Victor Hedman – Darren Raddysh
Calvin de Haan – Erik Cernak
Emil Lilleberg – Matt Dumba
Goalies
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Jonas Johansson
Los Angeles Kings Projected Lines
Forwards
Quinton Byfield – Anze Kopitar – Adrian Kempe
Trevor Moore – Phillip Danault – Kevin Fiala
Alex LaFerriere – Pierre-Luc Dubois – Viktor Arvidsson
Trevor Lewis – Blake Lizotte – Jacob Moverare
Defenders
Mikey Anderson – Drew Doughty
Vladislav Gavrikov – Matt Roy
Andreas Englund – Jordan Spence
Goalies
Cam Talbot
David Rittich
The Playoff Race
| Atlantic Division | Games Played | Record | Points | Games Remaining |
| Boston Bruins | 71 | 41-15-15 | 97 | 11 |
| Florida Panthers | 69 | 45-20-4 | 94 | 13 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 68 | 39-20-9 | 87 | 14 |
| Wild Card | Games Played | Record | Points | Games Remaining |
| Lightning | 69 | 38-25-6 | 82 | 13 |
| Detroit Red Wings | 70 | 36-28-6 | 78 | 12 |
| Washington Capitals | 69 | 34-26-9 | 77 | 13 |
