Game #17: Tampa Bay Lightning (6-6-4) at Chicago Black Hawks (5-8-0)
Time: 8:00 PM EST
Location: United Center
Broadcast/Streaming: ESPN+, HULU, TVAS, SN360
Opponent’s Site: Second City Hockey
Preview
The Lightning will continue to work through their slump with a game in Chicago tonight. The power play has cooled off, the mistakes in the defensive zone has gone up, meaning wins have been hard to come by. They’ve been shutout in two straight games, out-scored 0-9. Tonight, they hope to end that streak, and close the season series against Chicago with a win. Oh yes, we won’t be seeing Corey Perry’s team for the rest of the year after two meetings within a week.
Cooper gave a recap of the last game and why the Bolts lost. Hopefully they can get out of this negative feedback loop, it feels like their confidence is shot.
One thing that might help is the return of Erik Cernak, who skated next to Victor Hedman on the first pair in practice yesterday. He was out for a pair of games where Philippe Myers replaced him. Now Myers is back to Syracuse, Haydn Fleury is back from his conditioning stint, and Cernak is back in the lineup.
The forward lineup continues to evolve. Now we’re seeing ABB on the fourth line, Cirelli and Paul together on the second line, and Eyssimont at 3C — creating an Eyssi-motte line. The first line of Hagel-Point-Kucherov is the only three-forward combo we have seen before.
Stats Match-Up
| Game #16 | Tampa Bay Lightning | St. Louis Blues |
| Overall Record | 6-6-4 | 5-8-0 |
| Home Record | 4-2-2 | 1-3-0 |
| Road Record | 2-4-2 | 4-5-0 |
| Goals For | 53 | 34 |
| Goals Against | 59 | 45 |
| xGF | 52.5 | 34.9 |
| xGA | 52.7 | 46.7 |
| Power Play | 31% | 11% |
| Penalty Kill | 85% | 80% |
Lineups and Goalies
Tampa Bay Lightning Projected Lines
Forwards
Brandon Hagel – Brayden Point – Nikita Kucherov
Steven Stamkos – Anthony Cirelli – Nick Paul
Tanner Jeannot – Michael Eyssimont – Tyler Motte
Waltteri Merelä – Luke Glendening – Alex Barré-Boulet
Defenders
Victor Hedman – Erik Cernak
Mikhail Sergachev – Darren Raddysh
Calvin de Haan – Nick Perbix
Goalies
Jonas Johansson
Matt Tomkins
via Gabby Shirley from practice
Chicago Projected Lines
Chicago’s lines are in a bit of flux at the moment, based on their practice yesterday. We’ll see what they turn into.
Forwards
Nick Foligno – Connor Bedard – Philipp Kurashev
Taylor Hall* – Lukas Reichel – Taylor Raddysh
Tyler Johnson – Jason Dickinson – Corey Perry
Ryan Donato – Mackenzie Entwistle – Reese Johnson
Boris Katchouk
*Hall won’t play tonight, we will see who replaces him.
Defenders
Alex Vlasic – Seth Jones
Kevin Korchinski – Connor Murphy
Kaiser Wyatt – Isaak Phillips
Goalies
Petr Mrazek
Arvid Soderblom
via Ben Pope and CapFriendly
