Tampa Bay Lightning vs. New Jersey Devils: Round 1, Game 2
Time: 3:00 PM Eastern Time
Location: Amalie Arena
Broadcast / Streaming: NBC, CNBC, SN360, TVA Sports
Opponent SBNation Site: All About The Jersey
Preview:
There’s not a whole lot to say about this game. Jon Cooper and the Lightning did well with matching up against the Devils on Thursday night, and I wrote a longer reaction to the last game over here. The team played with a lot of energy and Andrei Vasilevskiy came out looking like he did back in the first half of the season. For a breakdown of Alex Killorn doing Playoff Alex Killorn things, check out Justin’s goal review.
It sounds like the Devils are going to tweak their line-up to try and find a spark against the Lightning. But this team is so deep, I have confidence they will be able to adjust to the Devils new game plan and take them on.
Biggest difference I’d like to see in this game is the Stamkos line being more effective. They did not produce much in the way of offense in game one and spent too much time in their own zone. Getting an even strength goal out of that line would be a good sign moving forward.
I’d also like to see Mikhail Sergachev get a little more ice time. It was obvious that Rick Bowness was trying to limit Sergachev’s exposure in game one. He played just under eight minutes on the night. Hopefully it was just a case of trying to ease Sergachev in to playoff hockey and his minutes will start growing as he shows he’s comfortable with the game and the speed.
Tampa Bay Lightning:
Forward Lines:
J.T. Miller – Steven Stamkos – Nikita Kucherov
Ondrej Palat – Brayden Point – Tyler Johnson
Alex Killorn – Anthony Cirelli – Yanni Gourde
Chris Kunitz – Cedric Paquette – Ryan Callahan
Defense Pairings:
Victor Hedman — Dan Girardi
Ryan McDonagh — Anton Stralman
Braydon Coburn — Mikhail Sergachev
Goaltenders:
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Louis Domingue
New Jersey Devils
Lineup notes:
The Devils did not do any line work at practice yesterday, and there is no pre-game skate due to a 3 PM start, so this is as close as we have to lines:
#NJDevils: “There is a possibility” that lineup will be changed heading into Game 2, says Hynes. They’ll go through that process of making those decisions this evening.
— x – Amanda Stein (@amandacstein) April 13, 2018
Forward Lines:
Taylor Hall – Nico Hischier – Kyle Palmieri
Miles Wood – Pavel Zacha – Patrick Maroon
Blake Coleman – Travis Zajac – Stefan Noesen
Michael Grabner – Brian Boyle – Brian Gibbons
Defense Pairings:
Andy Greene — Sami Vatanen
John Moore — Mirco Mueller
Will Butcher — Ben Lovejoy
Goaltenders:
Keith Kinkaid
Cory Schneider
