Game Twenty-Five: Tampa Bay Lightning (13-9-2) at Vancouver Canucks (14-7-4)
Time: 4:00 PM EST
Location: Rogers Arena
TV/Stream/Radio: FDSNSUN, ESPN+, 102.5 FM, Lightning App
Odds: Lightning -108
After a seemingly endless run of games dealing with injuries, it appears the Tampa Bay Lightning are finally fully operational. Based on their practice on Saturday, Nikita Kucherov and Mitchell Chaffee should (we stress should) return to the line-up today. With Nick Paul’s return in their last game, that means the Bolts have their full compliment of forwards for the first time since…we don’t know…early November?
For the Lightning it’s a really good time to get healthy as they are out west for a four-game road trip against some solid competition. After today’s game they have Edmonton, Calgary, and Seattle left this week before returning home for a three-game home stand. They are going to need every hand on deck to deal with some of the better teams in the Western Conference (and Seattle).
Based on yesterday’s practice it looks like they are returning the lines to what they were before the injury bug struck them as Nick Paul will be on the second line with Brandon Hagel and Anthony Cirelli. Expect them to return to their preferred 12/6 line-up with Darren Raddysh and Nick Perbix rotating in and out every couple of games. Up front, Coach Jon Cooper will have to make some decisions on who to sit and who to start. Cameron Atkinson, who struggled to start the season, seems to have found his rhythm with the team with 3 goals and 1 assist in his last 5 appearances.
Does he stay in the line-up or does Chaffee jump right back in? Does Gage Goncalves, who has played okay, but hasn’t seen his effort show up on the scoresheet get a break? What about the fourth line? Again, we’ve seen some offensive life out of them recently, but do they need a bit of a shake-up? It is a good problem to have, but Coach Cooper will have to figure it out to keep things rolling for the Lightning.
As for Vancouver, they are having a similar season as the Lightning. They have had some key players out of the line-up as old friend J.T. Miller remains out for personal reasons. It does look like Thatcher Demkos will make his season debut for them tonight, though. The goaltender has missed the first quarter of the season with a knee injury, and while Artus Silovs and Kevin Lankinen have played well in his absence, Vancouver needs their number one netminder playing if they want to return to the playoffs.
Quinn Hughes continues to be a menace from the blue line with 31 points (6 goals, 25 assists) in 25 games. Jake DeBrusk (5 goal in his last 4 games) and Elias Pettersson (8 points in 4 games) have been providing the offense in Miller’s absence.
Standings-wise, they are currently in third in the Pacific Division, trailing the Golden Knights by 7 points, but with 3 games in hand. Oddly enough, their best play has come on the road with a 10-2-1 record (one of those losses was to the Lightning back in October). At home they are a pedestrian 4-5-3, but one of those wins came on Friday as they kicked off their six-game home stand with a 5-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The Lightning are also looking to build off of a victory in their last outing, and with their full compliment of forwards available again, things should be a little easier for them.
Potential Lines:
Tampa Bay Lightning
Forwards:
Jake Guentzel – Brayden Point – Nikita Kucherov (Yay!)
Brandon Hagel – Anthony Cirelli – Nick Paul
Gage Goncalves – Conor Geekie – Cam Atkinson/Mitchell Chaffee
Zemgus Girgensons – Luke Glendening – Mikey Eyssimont
Defense:
Victor Hedman – JJ Moser
Ryan McDonagh – Erik Cernak
Emil Lilleberg – Nick Perbix
Goaltender:
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Vancouver Canucks
Forwards:
Jake DeBrusk – Elias Pettersson – Brock Boeser
Danton Heinen – Pius Suter – Conor Garland
Nils Hoglander – Teddy Blueger – Kiefer Sherwood
Max Sasson – Aatu Raty – Dakota Joshua
Defense:
Quinn Hughes – Tyler Myers
Carson Soucy – Noah Juulsen
Erik Brannstrom – Vincent Desharnais
Goaltender:
Thatcher Demko
Kevin Lankinen
