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Tampa Bay Lightning Hope to Continue Their Winning Ways Tonight in Edmonton (Preview)

By Tasha St. Pierre

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The Tampa Bay Lightning head into Rexall Place to go head to head with the Edmonton Oilers in the second game of their five-game road trip.

The Tampa Bay Lightning kicked off their five-game road trip by getting back on track with a definitive 4-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks at the Rogers Arena on Saturday Night.

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Now, the Bolts will be playing the first game in a back-to-back as they head to Rexall Place to take on former Tampa Bay Lightning right wing Teddy Purcell and the Edmonton Oilers.

To say that the Lightning have gotten off to a better start than the Oilers may just be the understatement of the century.

Being completely honest, even teams like the Buffalo Sabres who have only won one game so far this season have gotten off to a better start than the Oilers.

That’s right ladies and gentlemen…the Edmonton Oilers still have yet to find their first win of the 2014-15 National Hockey League season.

Now, before everyone starts to write them off as an easy victory, let me point something out to you. What do you feel inside when you are mocked by opposing team’s fans? Your blood starts to boil, right? You get this overwhelming feeling inside that makes you hope that you team absolutely destroys them when they meet.

The same thing happens to a hockey team when they find themselves in the Oilers’ position. They are hungrier than ever to find themselves with a notch in the win column. Honestly, what better place is there to do this than on home ice?

Unfortunately for the Oilers, we are pretty sure the Lightning are going to have something to say about this.

When it comes to the numbers, there is no denying that the Tampa Bay Lightning has the advantage. Here is a quick look at the match up courtesy of ESPN.

LightningOilers
Goals Per Game3.42.2
Goals Against Per Game1.84.8
Shots on Goal Per Game32.831.2
Penalty Minutes Per Game10.811
Power Play Goals73
Power Play Percentage29.2%20%
Power Play Goals Allowed25
Penalty Kill Percentage89.5%73.7%

Unfortunately, there is one thing that the numbers do not show. The numbers do not reflect the fact that the Tampa Bay Lightning have officially lost defenseman Victor Hedman for the remainder of the road trip, and possibly longer depending on his reevaluation when the team gets back to Tampa.

Now, the good news is that the organization has chosen to recall forward Jonathan Drouin from the Syracuse Crunch along with defenseman Luke Witkowski. There has been no official word from the team whether or not Drouin will play against Edmonton, but at least the possibility is there.

This may not be the most difficult game that the Lightning will play all season long, but that doesn’t mean that it is going to be the easiest either. We have been surprised before. It is our job now to ensure that doesn’t happen again.

Who do you think will walk out of Rexall Place tonight with the win? What do you think the score will be when the final buzzer sounds? Who do you think will be one of the standout players of the evening? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

As with the Vancouver game, tonight is another late one. The puck drops at 9:30 p.m. EST.

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