Lightning at Blackhawks Game Preview: Fast forward to the future

Game Forty-seven: Tampa Bay Lightning (25-18-3) at Chicago Blackhawks (15-28-4)

Time: 8:00 PM EST

Location: United Center

TV/Stream/Radio: FDSNSUN, CHSN, ESPN+, 102.5 FM, Lightning App

Odds: Lightning -238

Know the Opponents: Second City Hockey

This season was supposed to be better for Chicago Blackhawks fans. Young phenom Connor Bedard would have experience and he’d be joined by some of the other prospects in the system to usher in the new era of Chicago hockey. Veterans like Taylor Hall and Nick Foligno were still around to help with the process. While it wasn’t time to start thinking about the playoffs, fans also shouldn’t have to worry about what number Porter Martone would wear after getting selected with a top-three pick in the draft.

Unfortunately, rebuilds don’t always happen like the fans want them to. Yes, the ‘Hawks are marginally better (they have a .362 points percentage this season compared to last year’s .317), but not to the point where it seems playoffs are just around the corner. Bedard is leading the team with 41 points (13 goals, 28 points) and has been healthy, but the dreams of him being a franchise-altering player seemed to have diminished a bit. Nazar hasn’t found the scoring touch in Chicago that he displayed down the road in Rockford where he had 24 points (11 goals, 13 assists) in 21 games.

So, it’s another trade deadline of subtracting instead of adding for Chicago fans as they put off their return to glory one more season. Rebuilds are tough, and they can take longer than expected. That’s why general managers are so reluctant to admit they’re going through one. For Julien BriseBois and the Tampa Bay Lightning, what they see on the other side of the ice when they line up in the United Center tonight, is a fate they’re hoping to avoid.

Tampa Bay is trying to retool on the fly, something the ‘Hawks tried following back-to-back first-round losses in 2015-16 and 2016-17. Prior to the next season they shipped out stalwarts Artemi Panarin and Nick Hjalmarsson. They brought back some folks from their Cup runs in Brandon Saad and Patrick Sharp. Heck, they even signed Darren Raddysh to a two-year contract. It didn’t work, and they missed the playoffs. The decline was officially on, and they have missed the playoffs (with the exception of the COVID group play experiment) every year since.

The Lightning aren’t quite at that point yet. The main difference between the 2017-18 Blackhawks and the 2024-25 Lightning is that Tampa Bay has a healthy goalie while Corey Crawford suffered through a string of injuries. Andrei Vasilevskiy is having a rebound season with a 20-14-2 record, 2.37 GAA, and .914 SV%, numbers that resemble his outstanding 2021-22 season when he finished with 39 wins.

Even if we look at just his numbers during the recent run of mediocrity by the Bolts, Vasy has been solid with a .922 SV%, 2.30 GAA, and 3.65 GSAx. Solid goaltending can mask a lot of problems, so it’s not likely that the Bolts will plummet to the bottom of the standings as long as he’s playing to that level.

What the Lightning need to start doing, and tonight would be a good night to begin considering Chicago is allowing 3.43 goals per game with 2.92 of those coming at 5v5, is to get their depth scoring going. If the lines from practice yesterday (see below) are any indication, Coach Cooper is shaking things up by having Nikita Kucherov play with Anthony Cirelli and Brandon Hagel while Mikey Eyssimont gets another shot with Jake Guentzel and Brayden Point.

Those moves allow Coach Cooper to run out a third line with Nick Paul and Conor Geekie which, at least theoretically, should be able to generate some chances. With Zemgus Girgensons as the third member of the line they did have a couple of scoring chances along with three shots on net against Montreal. Time is ticking away for some players on the roster, and if they can’t find a way to get the bottom-six scoring, Mr. BriseBois will likely start looking outside of the organization.

Outside of Nikita Kucherov, the 5v5 scoring has dropped off a bit as well. Since the holiday break the perennial MVP candidate has 10 points (6 goals, 4 assists) in 14 games, but the rest of the team has struggled to find the back of the net. Brayden Point and Victor Hedman have been okay with three goals each, but usually reliable scorers Brandon Hagel (2 goals), Jake Guentzel (1 goal) and Anthony Cirelli (1 goal) haven’t been filling the net with their usual aplomb.

Special teams have helped keep them in the games, especially of late. Cirelli actually has more short-handed goals (2) than 5v5 while Guentzel has tapped in 4 tallies on the power play. With Chicago struggling to keep the puck out of the net, hopefully the Bolts can get back to the strong 5v5 play that proved so beneficial earlier in the season.

After a tough grind of playing every other night, the Lightning did get two days off, and were able to sneak a practice in as well. Throughout this season, that’s usually allowed them to reset and kick off a pretty good stretch of play. Hopefully, some extra time spent in the Windy City will get their season back on track and they can push back the eventual rebuild for at least one season.

Potential Lines

Tampa Bay Lightning

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Chicago Blackhawks

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