Tampa Bay Lightning at Detroit Red Wings : GAME# 32
Time: 7:00 pm Eastern Time
Location: Little Caesars Arena
Broadcast/Streaming: BSSUNX, BSDET, ESPN+
Opponent SBNation Site: Winging it in Motown
Yesterday wasn’t the best day for the Tampa Bay Lightning as they were beaten by the Toronto Maple Leafs like it was Game One of their last spring’s playoff series. If not for Andrei Vasilevskiy, who stopped 36 shots on that night, the loss could have been even bigger. Thereby the Lightning’s longest winning streak this season also came to an end. Interestingly enough, four of their latest losses happened against the teams from their division.
The biggest issue from yesterday’s game was a sluggish Lightning offense. The team, which scored at least four goals in each of their previous five games, generated just 19 shots on the Leafs’ net last night. The Leafs kept the Bolts out of their zone, while increasing pressure on the opponent’s net. The Lightning ended the game with 36.06% of expected goal share and with all of their top lines being outplayed by the Leafs.
Now the Lightning face the Detroit Red Wings in their second game in two nights. Much like the Leafs, the Red Wings created lots of problems for them in their previous meeting. That game was the opposite of the yesterday’s game in a sense that the Lightning were the ones who drove play on that night, but it eventually ended with the same result and two allowed empty-netters at the end of the game. Ville Husso, who essentially stole that victory for Detroit, is expected to start against the Lightning tonight.
The Lightning started their longest winning streak so far this season after that loss, while things got much worse for Detroit. The Red Wings went 0-4-2 in their last six games and dropped five points behind the last wild card spot. The Red Wings came close to ending their losing streak in the latest game against the Washington Capitals, but couldn’t hold a 2-0 lead during that game.
Part of the problems behind their recent slump is the performance of their special units. The penalty kill they relied on during the early stages of the season has dropped to 18th place in the NHL and the power play isn’t exactly succeeding, scoring just three goals during their losing streak, despite having 22 opportunities over that span. Also not helping is their injury situation, Dylan Larkin is still dealing with his hand injury, which forced him to miss one game, Filip Hronek is also possibly playing through an injury and Olli Maatta has just recovered from pneumonia and still isn’t in his full shape.
After tonight’s game in Detroit, the Lightning have one more game before Christmas against the Buffalo Sabres. The Buffalo area is currently expected to being hit by a powerful winter storm by Friday, which could complicate the return home for the Lightning.
Comparison chart:
Tampa Bay Lightning at Detroit Red Wings Comparison
| Game # 29 | Tampa Bay Lightning | Detroit Red WIngs |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Record | 20-10-1 | 13-11-7 |
| Home Record | 12-4-1 | 7-6-3 |
| Road Record | 8-6-0 | 6-5-4 |
| Goals For | 111 | 90 |
| Goals Against | 89 | 99 |
| xGF | 105.13 | 89.9 |
| xGA | 97.58 | 92.39 |
| PP% | 27.2% | 20.2 |
| PK% | 80.4% | 77.2 |
Tampa Bay Lightning Potential Lines
Forward Lines
Brandon Hagel – Brayden Point – Nikita Kucherov
Steven Stamkos – Nick Paul – Alex Killorn
Ross Colton – Anthony Cirelli – Pat Maroon
Vlad Namestnikov – Pierre-Edouard Bellemare – Corey Perry
Defense Pairings
Victor Hedman – Nick Perbix
Mikhail Sergachev – Zach Bogosian
Ian Cole – Erik Cernak
Goaltenders
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Brian Elliott
Detroit Red Wings Potential Lines
Forward Lines
Michael Rasmussen – Dylan Larkin – David Perron
Adam Erne – Andrew Copp – Lucas Raymond
Dominik Kubalik – Pius Suter – Oskar Sundqvist
Jonatan Berggren – Joe Veleno – Austin Czarnik
Defense Pairings
Ben Chiarot – Moritz Seider
Jake Walman – Filip Hronek
Olli Määttä – Jordan Oesterle
Goalies
Ville Husso
Alex Nedeljkovic
