Game Eighty-two: Tampa Bay Lightning (47-26-8) at New York Rangers (38-36-7)
Time: 7:00 PM EST
Location: Madison Square Garden, New York
TV/Stream/Radio: FDSNSUN, MSG, ESPN+, 102.5 FM, Lightning App
Odds: Lightning –
Know the Opponents: Blueshirt Banter
Story Lines and Notes
Back when the schedule was first released last summer, this looked like it could be a pretty important game, in fact, it could have been for the top overall seed in the Eastern Conference. Instead, it’s as meaningless of a game as you can get in the NHL. The Lightning are locked into their playoff spot with the only question remaining as to when their series against the Florida Panthers will start. As for the Rangers, well, they’re jockeying for draft position. Sure, they don’t have a first round pick, but moving up a couple of spots in each succeeding round could help them.
The first order of business tonight should be to get through the game without injury. After a relatively healthy season, the Bolts have been getting dinged up at a prodigious rate as of late. The latest member of the walking wounded is Mitchell Chaffee, who took a shoulder to the head from Jesse Puljujarvi in the third period and didn’t return to the game.
With just two days In the season, the Lightning had enough room under the salary cap to recall Cameron Atkinson from Syracuse. Expect him to suit up tonight with the rest of the team. Also expect Coach Cooper to roll the lines as much as possible with some of the top players getting less ice time than normal.
Other than that, there isn’t much to play for tonight. Nikita Kucherov is sitting at 994 career points, and while it’s unlikely he’ll crack the 1,000 point barrier tonight, it isn’t entirely out of the realm of possibility. After all, it’s Kuch, right?
Nick Paul is sitting at 199 points, while Anthony Cirelli is a point away from his first 60-point season. Brandon Hagel is three points shy of 300 for his career, so he’s got a shot at a nice round number as well.
Going into the playoffs with a win is always nice as well. Sure, it won’t really mean anything in 48 hours, but winning the last game of the season is always a nice way to finish things off.
Stats
| New York | 5v5 Stats over Last 10 Games | Tampa Bay |
| 3.43 | GPG | 3.61 |
| 2.37 | GAPG | 1.56 |
| 13.8% | PP% | 29.6% |
| 72.0% | PK% | 76.9% |
| 50.75% | 5v5 Shot Attempt % | 49.74% |
| 52.25% | 5v5 High Danger Chances % | 55.68% |
| 11.93% | 5v5 Shooting % | 15.31% |
| .916 | 5v5 Save % | .942 |
| Artemi Panarin – 6 | G Leader – all situations | Jake Guentzel – 7 Brayden Point – 7 |
| J.T. Miller – 9 | A Leader – all situations | Nikita Kucherov – 14 |
| Artemi Panarin – 14 J.T. Miller – 14 | P Leader – all situations | Nikita Kucherov -20 |
| Alexis Lafreniere – 12 | PIM Leader – all situations | Erik Cernak – 13 |
| 4-5-1 | Record | 6-1-3 |
Potential Lines
Tampa Bay Lightning
Forwards:
| Yanni Gourde | Brayden Point | Nikita Kucherov |
| Brandon Hagel | Anthony Cirelli | Jake Guentzel |
| Conor Geekie | Nick Paul | Gage Goncalves |
| Cam Atkinson | Zemgus Girgensons | Mitchell Chaffee (?) |
Defense:
| Victor Hedman | J.J. Moser |
| Ryan McDonagh | Erik Cernak |
| Emil Lilleberg | Darren Raddysh/Nick Perbix |
Goaltenders:
| Andrei Vasilevskiy |
| Jonas Johansson |
New York Rangers
Forwards:
| Gabriel Perreault | J.T. Miller | Mika Zibanejad |
| Artemi Panarin | Vincent Trochek | Brennan Othmann |
| Will Cuylle | Juuso Parssinen | Alexis Lafreniere |
| Chris Kreider | Johnny Brodzinski | Matt Rempe |
Defense:
| Matthew Robertson | Adam Fox |
| K’Andre Miller | Will Borgen |
| Carson Soucy | Zac Jones |
Goaltenders:
| Igor Shesterkin |
| Jonathan Quick |
