Lightning mark the mid-point with a matinee against the surprising Sharks

Game Forty-One: Tampa Bay Lightning (24-13-3) at San Jose Sharks (20-17-3)

Time: 4:00 PM EST

Location: SAP Center at San Jose, Silicon Valley, USA

TV/Stream/Radio: The Spot, NBCSA, ESPN+, 102.5 FM, Lightning App

Odds: Lightning -192

Know the Opponents: Fear the Fin

After a day off, the Tampa Bay Lightning wrap up their California road trip with a matinee effort against the San Jose Sharks. Over the last few seasons, this would be a penciled in win for the top teams in the league as the Sharks went through their rebuilding process. Now, not so much. The Sharks may be the most surprising team in the league as they hit the halfway mark of the season in a the top Wild Card spot in the Western Conference.

It’ll be two teams with winning streak going at each other as the Lightning put their six-game streak up against the Sharks three-game streak. It’s not like San Jose has been stock-piling their points against other struggling teams – there are some pretty good teams that have come out with losses against the Sharks. Among their 20 wins are top-tier teams Minnesota (3 times), Colorado (in overtime), Carolina, Boston, and Florida. Not bad for a team that started the season with six straight losses.

Macklin Celebrini is the engine that drives their offense as the young Olympian has 62 points (22 goals, 40 assists) in 40 games. That’s 30 more points than the second-place scorer on the team – Will Smith. Outside of the top line of Celebrini, William Eklund (26 points), and Igor Chernyshow (8 points in 7 games) scoring has been a bit of a struggle as they are decidedly middle of the pack overall at 5v5 offense.

They actually have a negative goal differential at 5v5 having scored 80 goals while conceding 92. For comparison, the Lightning have scored 91 while allowing just 68. Defensively, things haven’t been great as they are giving up 2.86 goals per 60 at even strength. A 78.6% penalty kill isn’t helping matters.

So, while they aren’t too to be taken lightly, there is a little paper-tigerness about them. An excellent overtime/shootout record has helped prop them up a little and isn’t very sustainable especially since they allow 12.26 HDCA/60 and 28.39 SCA/60. Both of those numbers are down towards the bottom of the league.

After playing a fairly competent defensive team in Los Angeles, there should be a few more looks at the net for the Lightning today. They just need to make sure they take advantage of them. The Bolts have a chance to come back to Tampa with all six points on this trip, but they can’t take the night off and expect a victory.

Getting a lead early and making a young team like San Jose chase the game will give the Bolts a chance to pick them apart and counter-attack. Expect a fast-paced game, similar to the one they had in Anaheim.

Potential Lines

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San Jose Sharks

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