Game Sixty-five: Tampa Bay Lightning (37-23-4) at Philadelphia Flyers (27-31-8)
Time: 7:00 PM EST
Location: Wells Fargo Center
TV/Stream/Radio: FDSNSUN, NBCSP, ESPN+, 102.5 FM, Lightning App
Odds: Lightning -175
Know the Opponents: Broad Street Hockey
Could the Philadelphia Flyers be the cure for what’s ailing the Tampa Bay Lightning? In the grand scheme of things, a two-game losing streak isn’t the end of the world, but the Bolts haven’t looked right over the last week or so. Their play has resembled portions of last season where, for large parts of the game, they look okay and then things dissolve in a matter of a few minutes. In their last outing against Carolina, the first 30 minutes or so wasn’t bad, but they couldn’t score, and then their defense fell apart.
With just one goal in their last two outings, the league-leading offense has hit a bit of a speed bump. Enter the Flyers. Mired in a five-game losing streak they have surrendered goals at a brisk pace as they’ve been outscored 22-7 during this stretch. Now they get to face the Lightning twice in their next three games.
Even with their recent scoring outage, the Bolts are still second in the league at 3.50 goals per game and prior to their two losses they dropped six on Buffalo and six on Columbus. Granted, things are a little murky at this point with status of Nikita Kucherov, and if he can’t go, there will be some shuffling of the top lines. Cameron Atkinson is back on the roster after his brief exile to Syracuse, but Coach Cooper could also roll 11/7 like he did against Carolina.
A win tonight would be nice, but this is also about the process more than the outcome. The Lightning need to get their defensive structure back. We saw it during the nine-game winning streak, and even before that, when they struggled during January, they were still preventing scoring chances.
If they start with defending their own zone, it will lead to offense.
Stats
| Philadelphia | Stats over Last 10 Games | Tampa Bay |
| 2.80 | GPG | 3.30 |
| 3.40 | GAPG | 2.30 |
| 9.1% | PP% | 23.1% |
| 77.8% | PK% | 84.0% |
| 48.60% | 5v5 Shot Attempt % | 44.47% |
| 50.00% | 5v5 High-Danger Chances % | 45.09% |
| 10.62% | 5v5 Shooting % | 10.24% |
| .895 | 5v5 Save % | .938 |
| O. Tippett – 5 | G Leader | J. Guentzel – 5 |
| M. Michkov – 7 | A Leader | N. Kucherov – 7 B. Hagel – 7 |
| M. Michkov – 11 | P Leader | J. Guentzel – 11 B. Hagel – 11 |
| T. Sanheim – 23:29 | TOI Leader | R. McDonagh – 20:50 |
| 4-5-1 | Record | 7-3-0 |
Potential Lines
Tampa Bay Lightning
Forwards:
| Jake Guentzel | Brayden Point | Nick Paul |
| Brandon Hagel | Anthony Cirelli | Zemgus Girgensons |
| Gage Goncalves | Yanni Gourde | Oliver Bjorkstrand |
| Cam Atkinson | Luke Glendening | Mitchell Chaffee |
Defense:
| Victor Hedman | J.J. Moser |
| Ryan McDonagh | Erik Cernak |
| Emil Lilleberg | Nick Perbix |
Goaltenders:
| Jonas Johansson |
| Andrei Vasilevskiy |
Nikita Kucherov – Game-time decision (illness)
Philadelphia Flyers
Forwards:
| Tyson Foerster | Noah Cates | Bobby Brink |
| Owen Tippett | Sean Couturier | Matvei Michkov |
| Olle Lycksell | Ryan Poehling | Travis Konecny |
| Nicolas Deslauriers | Rodrigo Abols | Jakob Pelletier |
Defense:
| Cam York | Travis Sanheim |
| Nick Seeler | Jamie Drysdale |
| Emil Andrae | Rasmus Ristolainen |
Goaltenders:
| Ivan Fedotov |
| Samuel Ersson |
