Tampa Bay Lightning at Vancouver Canucks: GAME #43
Time: 10:00 pm Eastern Time
Location: Rogers Arena
Broadcast/Streaming: BSSUNX, SNP, ESPN+
Opponent Site: Nucks Misconduct
Preview:
The Tampa Bay Lightning are about as far from home as they can be in the National Hockey League as they are on the west coast of Canada tonight for a game against the Canucks. While the time zone means it’s a 10pm start for us over here on the east coast, the Lightning should be relatively adjusted to the difference as they played in Seattle a couple nights ago, specifically an afternoon matinee on MLK Day.
The Canucks come into this game a real hot mess at the moment. They have resigned themselves to knowing they can’t re-sign Bo Horvat, while simultaneously regretting signing JT Miller in the summer to the money they’d like to give Horvat now.
The Canucks also realize they’re in interstellar space when it comes to the direction their team is going. They’re not bad with a plan to be worse. Or good aiming to be better after the deadline. They’re 27th in the league with no reasonable path to make the playoffs or tank.
How do you run a team whose good players are on expiring contracts, and who’s problem players are locked up for 5+ years? Jim Rutherford’s plan is to talk the whole way through it while hanging his coach, Bruce Boudreau, out to dry every night. Boudreau knows management doesn’t want him anymore, the players know management doesn’t want him anymore. And on top of all that there’s controversy around the team’s handling of Tanner Pearson’s injury. He’s already had three surgeries with more expected.
So all the Lightning need to do is sit tight, play their game, and score a couple on the league’s worst penalty kill. It’s January against a team of zero consequence to the Lightning, I don’t really have any notes for them or things to watch out for when it comes to the Canucks.
Can the Lightning get a coach fired tonight?
| Yes | 4 |
| No | 7 |
| Boudreau quits and asks Coop if he can come with | 18 |
Comparison Chart:
Tampa Bay Lightning at Vancouver Canucks
| Game # 43 | Tampa Bay Lightning | Vancouver Canucks |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Record | 28-13-1 | 18-22-3 |
| Home Record | 17-4-1 | 8-10-1 |
| Road Record | 11-9-0 | 10-12-2 |
| Goals For | 151 | 146 |
| Goals Against | 121 | 169 |
| xGF | 146.33 | 128.46 |
| xGA | 130.63 | 141.49 |
| PP% | 28.8% | 23.8% |
| PK% | 81.8% | 66.7% |
Tampa Bay Lightning Lines
Forwards
Brandon Hagel – Brayden Point – Nikita Kucherov
Anthony Cirelli – Steven Stamkos – Alex Killorn
Ross Colton – Nick Paul – Patrick Maroon
Vlad Namestnikov – Pierre-Edouard Bellemare – Corey Perry
Defenders
Victor Hedman – Zach Bogosian
Ian Cole – Erik Cernak
Mikhail Sergachev – Cal Foote
Goalies
Andrei Vasilevskiy – projected starter
Brian Elliott
Vancouver Canucks Lines
Forwards
Conor Garland – Bo Horvat – JT Miller
Ilya Mikheyev – Elias Pettersson – Brock Boeser
Andrei Kuzmenko – Sheldon Dries – Jack Studnicka
Dakota Joshua – Curtis Lazar – William Lockwood
Defenders
Oliver Ekman-Larsson – Tyler Myers
Quinn Hughes – Luke Schenn
Ethan Bear – Kyle Burroughs
Goalies
Spencer Martin – projected starter
Collin Delia
