Tampa Bay Lightning vs Buffalo Sabres: Game 15
Time: 1:00 pm Eastern Time
Location: Ericsson Globe
Broadcast/Streaming: SunS, MSGB
Opponent SBNation Site: Die By the Blade
Preview:
The Lightning head into game two of their back-to-back series against the Sabres in Sweden following a win in the first game in which the Bolts played one of their best games of the season. If you missed yesterday’s game, be sure to check out Lauren’s recap.
In terms of lineup changes, both teams will switch goaltenders. That means the Sabres will turn to their normal starter Carter Hutton after giving Swede Linus Ullmark the first game in front of his home fans. For the Lightning, backup Curtis McElhinney will get the start.
Vladimir Sobotka will not play in today’s game follow an injury after a questionable hit from Nikita Kucherov. His absence likely means Evan Rodrigues will draw into the lineup. We’re not expecting any changes to the Lightning skater group after how well they played yesterday and if the coaches do decide to mix it up, we probably won’t know until game time.
This will be the last game for the Bolts until Thursday. They haven’t won back to back games since October 15th and 17th so to sweep this series would be a nice boost and give them some confidence returning to their regular schedule later in the week. A loss would keep them mired in this stretch of alternating wins and losses.
Perhaps more importantly, playing another good game regardless of outcome could be a sign that the Lightning are getting back on track. They controlled the entirety of the game yesterday in a way that they haven’t done many times this season.
Tampa Bay Lightning
Forward Lines
Tyler Johnson – Brayden Point – Nikita Kucherov
Ondrej Palat – Steven Stamkos – Alex Volkov
Alex Killorn – Anthony Cirelli – Mathieu Joseph
Pat Maroon – Cedric Paquette – Yanni Gourde
Carter Verhaeghe
Defense Pairings
Victor Hedman – Kevin Shattenkirk
Ryan McDonagh – Erik Cernak
Mikhail Seregachev – Luke Schenn
Braydon Coburn – Jan Rutta
Goaltenders
Curtis McElhinney
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Buffalo Sabres
Forward Lines
Victor Olofsson – Jack Eichel – Sam Reinhart
Jeff Skinner – Marcus Johansson – Kyle Okposo
Zemgus Girgensons – Johan Larsson – Evan Rodrigues
Connor Sheary – Casey Mittelstadt – Jimmy Vesey
Vladimir Sobotka
Defense Pairings
Jake McCabe – Rasmus Ristolainen
Rasmus Dahlin – Brandon Montour
Henri Jokiharju – Colin Miller
John Gilmour – Lawrence Pilut
Goalies
Carter Hutton
Linus Ullmark
