Los Angeles Kings at Tampa Bay Lighting: Game 28
Time: 7:00 pm ET
Location: Amalie Arena Home of the Stanley Cup Champions
Broadcast/Streaming: ESPN+, BSSUN, BSW
Opponent SB Nation Site: Jewels From the Crown
After their successful five-game road trip the Tampa Bay Lightning return to the friendly confines of Amalie Arena to take on the Los Angeles Kings. It’s a quick homestand, just two games, before the Bolts head out west for three games.
The Kings come into town with a decidedly average record of 12-10-4 and their 28 points place them sixth in the Pacific, 9 points behind the surprising Anaheim Ducks. The Kings have been treading water lately with a 4-4-2 record in their last 10 games, but have solid victories over Dallas (4-0) and Minnesota (2-1) in their last two.
Goals have come at a premium in their games this season. They are 8th in the league allowing just 2.58 goals per game which is good, but they are also 25th in the league with just 2.65 goals scored per game, that’s bad.
It’s been king of a ho-hum season for them so far with Brendan Lemiuex’s chomping of Brady Tkachuk’s hand the most notable thing to happen on the ice. Lemieux returned from his suspension in the game against the Wild and scored the deciding goal in the Kings’ victory.
Much like Steven Stamkos for the Lightning, Anze Kopitar is showing that age is just relative as the 34-year-old center is leading the team with 24 points (8 goals, 16 assists) in 26 games. Winger Adrian Kempe paces them with 11 goals.
As for the Lightning, it looks like Anthony Cirelli and Zach Bogosian will both be back in the line-up. After playing the last few games with a gossamer-thin line-up, they are starting to get some of their players back. Cirelli’s return will likely push newly acquired center Riley Nash back into the press box and Ross Colton back down onto the Kid Line with Boris Katchouk and Taylor Raddysh (although Raddysh has looked pretty good skating next to Stamkos).
Tampa Bay Lightning Lines:
Forwards
Ondrej Palat — Steven Stamkos — Taylor Raddysh
Alex Killorn — Anthony Cirelli — Mathieu Joseph
Patrick Maroon — Pierre-Edouard Bellemare — Corey Perry
Gabriel Fortier — Ross Colton — Boris Katchouk
It was an optional morning skate so no updated line information.
Defense
Victor Hedman — Jan Rutta
Ryan McDonagh — Zach Bogosian
Mikhail Sergachev — Cal Foote
Goaltenders
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Brian Elliott
Los Angeles Kings Lines
Forwards
Adrian Kempe – Anze Kopitar – Dustin Brown
Alex Iafallo – Phillip Danault – Viktor Arvidsson
Andreas Athanasiou – Rasmus Kupari – Athur Kaliyev
Carl Grundstrom – Trevor Moore – Brendan Lemiuex
Defense
Mikey Anderson – Drew Doughty
Tobias Bjornfot – Matt Roy
Olli Matta – Sean Durzi
Goaltenders
Jonathan Quick
Cal Petersen
Lines based on daily faceoff’s prediction.
