Lightning at Capitals Game Preview: Taking the show on the road

Game Fifty-nine: Tampa Bay Lightning (34-20-4) at Washington Capitals (38-13-8)

Time: 12:30 PM EST

Location: Capital One Arena, Washington D.C.

TV/Stream/Radio: FDSNSUN, MNMT, ESPN+, 102.5 FM, Lightning App

Odds: Lightning -112

Know the Opponents: Japers’ Rink

The Tampa Bay Lightning begin a brief two-game road trip today with a stop in the nation’s capital (historically, a house of horrors for them) with a matinee outing against the Washington Capitals. Let’s just say this game could have had a lot more historical significance if Alex Ovechkin hadn’t missed 16 games with a fractured fibula.

As it is, the danger of Ovechkin breaking Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goals record is extremely minimal as he is 12 goals away from passing the former St. Louis Blues forward. We mentioned in the preview of their first meeting this season that no one has scored more times against the Lightning than Ovechkin, and that he hasn’t scored on them since April of 2022, so maybe he is due.

Since returning from his injury he has 15 goals 25 games and has helped the Capitals keep their grip atop of the Metro Division. Age may catch up with the Gr8 one at some point, but it doesn’t look like it’s going to be this year as he has yet another season with 30 goals under his belt.

For the Lightning, tonight will be another test for them as they continue to secure their playoff position. Coming out of the break, they extended their winning streak to a season-high seven games, but those were at home. Now they they have to take the show on the road and see if they can improve their 13-13-1 record away from Amalie Arena. They did have two wins on the road prior to the break against Detroit and Montreal that helped solidify their spot in the division, now they need to do it against one of the top teams in the NHL.

As we mentioned, Capital One Arena hasn’t exactly been friendly to them in the past as they have a 17-36-0-7 record all time, and are 2-7 since the 2019-20 season. This is their first visit this season, as the prior two games were both in Tampa. If they want to snap out of the losing ways, they have to commit to the defensive structure that we’ve seen in recent games (excluding the win against Calgary).

Chances are Coach Cooper rolls with the 11/7 line-up once again as that helps him with his match-ups and freeing up players like Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov. Due to the seven-game winning streak, the next couple of games don’t have the sense of playoff urgency that the games before the break had, but they will be a good test for the Bolts against tough competition (their next games is against the Panthers). Splitting the two games would be a good result, taking both of them would be even better.

Potential Lines

Tampa Bay Lightning

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Washington Capitals

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