Game Forty-six: Tampa Bay Lightning (25-17-3) at Montreal Canadiens (23-19-4)
Time: 7:00 PM EST
Location: Bell Centre, Montreal
TV/Stream/Radio: FDSNSUN, TSN2, RDS ESPN+, 102.5 FM, Lightning App
Odds: Lightning -148
Know the Opponents: Eyes on the Prize
We’ll keep this quick since not much is different from today’s preview than yesterday’s. The Lightning are in the middle of a stretch where they are playing some important games and they have to find a way to win them. For the most part, they’ve done that. Even with last night’s loss to the Maple Leafs, they are still 5-4-1 over their last ten games. Good, but not good enough.
Last night’s loss was another example of the Lightning playing a forty-minute game. They rebounded from a rough first period to play a fairly even game with the division leading Toronto Maple Leafs, but just couldn’t find a way to equalize the score at any point. Playing without two of their top four defensemen (J.J. Moser and Erik Cernak) and with back-up goaltender Jonas Johansson getting the start, they seemed a step behind out of the gate, and allowed their mistakes to hurt them, primarily with goals off of the rush by Auston Matthews and William Nylander.
The good news is that Andrei Vasilevskiy will be in net tonight. The bad news is that Moser is still out, and Cernak is doubtful. Doubling down on the bad news, their opponent isn’t going to make it easy for them. The Canadiens are currently riding a heater, with a 7-2-1 record over their last ten games. Featured among those games are quality wins over Dallas, Washington, Colorado, and Vegas. All of those teams are likely bound for the playoffs, and Vegas and Washington might be considered the best teams in their respective conferences.
After a few years of dreadful play, Montreal is benefitting from solid drafting and beneficial veteran signings/trades. Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield are doing their thing and leading the team in offense. Patrik Laine has given them scoring depth with 12 goals in 18 games. Young netminder Jakub Dobes has provided a spark in net with a 5-0 record to start his career along with a 1.55 GA and .940 SV%. That has taken some pressure off of incumbent Sam Montembeault, who will get the start tonight.
The Habs are young, hungry, believe in themselves, and are steadily moving up the standings. A win for them tonight will leave them just a point behind the Bolts (although Tampa Bay has a game in hand) and leapfrog them over idle Boston into a wildcard spot.
So, the task at hand tonight for the Bolts is to keep grinding away. Find a way to start on time, keep the pressure going, and don’t let teams take advantage of the mental lapses. When the Lightning have found their groove, they’ve been good. Even last night, after chasing Toronto around the ice, the Bolts put together a strong third period and pushed the Maple Leafs to the edge before Mitch Marner’s empty-net goal sealed.
Coach Cooper did get the line-blender out late in the first period and moved Nick Paul up to play with Brayden Point and Jake Guentzel. Nikita Kucherov dropped down to play with Brandon Hagel and Anthony Cirelli. It worked to an extent as Nick Paul First Line Center paid off with a goal and a 3-0 edge in scoring chances in their almost 8 minutes of 5v5 time together. The new look Cirelli line also produced an edge in scoring chances, 8-6, but didn’t find the back of the net while conceding a goal.
With no morning skate, we’ll have to wait until game time to see if Coach Cooper sticks with the new look or if reverts back to the old look.
Potential Lines
Tampa Bay Lightning
Forwards:
Jake Guentzel | Brayden Point | Nick Paul |
Brandon Hagel | Anthony Cirelli | Nikita Kucherov |
Zemgus Girgensons | Conor Geekie | Mitchell Chaffee |
Mikey Eyssimont | Luke Glendening | Cameron Atkinson |
Defense:
Victor Hedman | Darren Raddysh |
Ryan McDonagh | Max Crozier |
Emil Lilleberg | Nick Perbix |
Goaltenders:
Andrei Vasilevskiy |
Jonas Johansson |
Montreal Canadiens
Forwards:
Cole Caufield | Nick Suzuki | Juraj Slafkovsky |
Patrik Laine | Kirby Dach | Alex Newhook |
Josh Anderson | Christian Dvorak | Brendan Gallagher |
Owen Beck | Jake Evans | Joel Armia |
Defense:
Lane Huston | Mike Matheson |
Kaiden Guhle | Alexandre Carrier |
Arber Xhekaj | David Savard |
Goaltenders:
Sam Montembeault |
Jakub Dobes |