It’s going to be an interesting month for the Tampa Bay Lightning. Can they catch the Toronto Maple Leafs for second place (and home ice in the first round)? Can they hold off the hard-charging Buffalo Sabres? Will they make any deals before the end of the month to address some of their areas of need? By the 28th we should have answers to some of those questions, if not all of them.
After cooling their heels for the first week of the month, the Tampa Bay Lightning will kick things into gear with 12 games over the last 23 days of the month. Included in that stretch are three back-to-backs with two of them (Colorado/Arizona and Detroit/Pittsburgh). The first back-to-back kicks off the month in Florida then they take on the San Jose Sharks at home.
Speaking of Amalie Arena, the Lightning are at home for 5 of their games while heading out on the road for 7. It’s another trip west as they have a four-game road trip that takes them to Dallas, Colorado, Arizona, and Las Vegas. Their other road trip is a weekend journey to Detroit and Pittsburgh.
There is a little more Atlantic Division action for them this month as they take on the Panthers twice, Buffalo once, and Detroit once. Seven games are against Western Conference, which bodes well for a Lightning club that is 16-6 so far this season against out-of-conference teams. After this month the bulk of their schedule will be against Eastern Conference teams.
Hopefully they get their rest this week because their first week back has them playing four times in six nights (two at home, two on the road). As for the strength of the teams that they are playing, it’s a mixed bag. They have Colorado twice, Dallas, Vegas, and Pittsburgh, all teams in the top half of the standings. They do have San Jose, Anaheim, and Arizona as well, teams that are already looking forward to the draft.
Sadly, for all of you folks in the Tampa area, there are no weekend home games as all seven fall on either a Tuesday or Thursday. That being said, your Fridays will be free for date nights as the Bolts don’t play on a Friday this month. There is one game on a Sunday, one on a Monday, and one on a Wednesday.
There is one afternoon game (1:00 pm at Dallas) and three later night starts (9:00 PM in Colorado and Arizona). The lone late night start is in Vegas (10:30 PM) but that is a Saturday day so y’all can sleep in afterwards.
We’re officially in the doldrums of the season. The newness of the season has long worn off and we’re still a few months from the fun of the playoffs. It’s going to be a grind, hopefully the veteran leadership in the locker room can help keep them focused.
Lightning / NHL News
How Lightning’s Vasilevskiy learned that less can be more [Tampa Bay Times]
Even veterans have to change up their routines. After some early season struggles Andrei Vasilevskiy figured out that a little less preparation made for stronger play.
Former NHL coach Guy Boucher just shared an interesting anecdote about Martin St. Louis the player on the secondary RDS feed. (thread) pic.twitter.com/n94asbsuK3
— Jack Han (@JhanHky) February 1, 2023
Stream Recharge: Maximum Potential ⬇️https://t.co/YBBoy9laHH
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) January 31, 2023
32 Thoughts: Canucks/Islanders gamble on trade [SportsNet]
Friedman mentions that the rumored Luke Schenn back to Tampa deal may not be a foregone conclusion as new coach Rick Tocchet may want to keep the veteran around.
Sharks looking for 3 pieces in return for Timo Meier [SJ HockeyNow]
Stop me if you’ve heard this before – a team wants a first round pick, a NHL-ready prospect, and another top prospect in exchange for their big name that they may or may not trade. That’s the asking price for Timo Meier.
NHL U.S. TV national viewership is down 22% this season, per findings from @AustinKarp.
NHL regular games to date have averaged 373,000 viewers on ESPN/TNT, 2nd season of the league’s 7-year pact with Disney & Turner.
NHL averaged 478,000 viewers at this point last season.
— Mark J. Burns (@markjburns88) February 1, 2023
