Lightning at Rangers Preview: No time for rust

Game #51
Time: 7:00 PM EST
Location: Madison Square Garden
Broadcast/Streaming: TNT, MAX, TVAS

Opponent’s Site: Blue Shirt Banter

Preview

The Tampa Bay Lightning are back on the ice for the first time in 10 days. Somehow it seems like it has taken forever while also going by in a flash. The good news for the Lightning is that they went into their long break in third place and they didn’t lose that spot. The teams around them really couldn’t take advantage of the games in hand that they had on the Bolts (to be fair, Toronto has still played two fewer games) and Tampa Bay is still in a playoff spot.

The even better news is that some of their injured players should be back on the ice tonight. Based on the lines at practice, we could see both Mikhail Sergachev and Erik Cernak back as a pairing. Sergachev joked that it didn’t seem that the team missed him that much while he was out, but the truth is, despite some of his struggles, they need him out there chewing up minutes. While the time off was due to a physical injury, the time away from the ice could help him reset mentally. What a boost it would be if he is able to return to the form he displayed at both ends of the ice last season.

His return comes on a key road trip for the Lightning. On paper there are two games that the Lightning should be favored to win (Blue Jackets and Islanders) sandwiched between two games that will test them (Rangers and Bruins). Coach Cooper’s golden rule for road trips is to fly back home with more points than games played. For the Lightning to squeeze out five or more points they’re going to have to come out of the gate hot and the Rangers are going to be standing in their way.

In one of those unexpected stats that pop up in researching previews Igor Shesterkin has never lost in regulation to the Lightning during the regular season (the playoffs are another story). He is 6-0-1 with a .956 SV%, 1.40 GAA, and a shutout. On the other hand, Andrei Vasilevskiy is 4-7-2 with a .907 SV%, 2.98 GAA, and no shutouts. They are one of only six teams (Bruins, Flames, Avs, Golden Knights, and Jets are the others) that Vasilevskiy doesn’t have a winning record against. While fans in Tampa believe that Vasy is Better, it would be nice to see him beat his countryman head-to-head in the regular season.

He’s struggled in Madison Square Garden in particular with a 1-5 record with an .891 SV% and 3.68 GAA. Let’s throw in the fact that he is also rocking a .911 SV% when getting more than five days of rest. Only when he has played in back-to-back games has he posted a lower save percentage (.904).

The Lightning as a team tend to struggle coming off of long breaks. Following their long break last season, they laid an absolute egg against the Florida Panthers in a 7-1 loss. They really aren’t in a position to go down like that this season as they are still hunting for every point they need.

New York already had their first game back from the break, a 2-1 OT win over the Colorado Avalanche where Jonathan Quick made 30 stops. It was their second win in a row, which comes on the heels of a pretty bad western road trip where they went 1-2-1 and struggled to score with just four goals scored in their losses (they did put up 5 against Anaheim in their only win).

Overall, their scoring is led by the usual suspects as Artemi Panarin has 67 points (31 goals, 36 assists) to lead the team. Mika Zibanejad is right behind him with 47 points while all-star Vincent Trocheck has 46 points. Quick has had a career revival as a back-up with a 2.35 GA, .918 SV%, and 11 wins in 17 games. Shesterkin hasn’t been quite as elite as in years past, but he’s still getting the job done in net.

The Bolts were playing their best hockey of the season prior to the break, after 10 days on the beach and off the ice, can they pick up where they left off?

Stats Match-up

Lines

Tampa Bay Lightning Projected Lines

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

Alex Barré-Boulet – Luke Glendening – Mitchell Chaffee

Defenders
Victor Hedman – Darren Raddysh
Mikhail Sergachev – Erik Cernak
Emil Lilleberg – Nick Perbix

Goalies
Andrei Vasilevskiy

Jonas Johansson

New York Rangers Projected Lines

Forwards
Chris Kreider – Mika Zibanejad – Blake Wheeler

Artemi Panarin – Vincent Trocheck – Alexis Lafreniere

Will Cuylle – Jonny – Brodzinski – Kaapo Kakko

Jimmy Vesey – Barclay Goodrow – Tyler Pitlick

Defenders
Ryan Lindgren – Adam Fox

K’Andre Miller – Jacob Trouba

Erik Gustafsson – Braden Schneider

Goalies

Igor Shesterkin

Jonathan Quick

The Playoff Race