Bolts by the Bay
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Bolts Face Rested Red Wings Tonight in Motor City Melee

By Angelo Resciniti

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The pundits call this a “trap game,” a game in which a hot team is ripe for a letdown. The Tampa Bay Lightning already knows about trap games this season; in fact, the newest version of the NHL encyclopedia features a photo from the Bolts’ 7-2 loss to the Minnesota Wild two weeks ago in its entry on the trap game.

What makes tonight’s match-up with the “Original Six” Detroit Red Wings a trap game for the Lightning?

For one, it is the second half of a road back-to-back pair (already the fourth back-to-back this young season for the Bolts). This was true for the Minnesota meltdown.

Also, the team is coming off a big win in the first half of the back-to-back, last night’s 7-4 goal scoring festival over the Columbus Blue Jackets, comparable to the win over the Winnipeg Jets, 4-2, the night before the Minnesota massacre.

Additionally, the Bolts are riding high on a five-game winning streak, second-longest currently in the NHL to Pittsburgh’s seven consecutive wins. Tampa Bay was enjoying a 3-1 road swing through western Canada before the Minnesota mess.

Moreover, the Lightning squad totally dominated Detroit last season, going 4-1 , including two wins at Joe Louis Arena (where the Lightning had not won since forever ago), and outscoring the Red Wings 13-8 in the low-scoring series. And while it is hard to believe that any team would skate into Joe Louis Arena feeling overconfident, the Bolts are certainly aware of their recent success in Detroit and feeling good about their fine 10-3-1 start to the 2014-15 season.

As well, the Bolts can still point to injuries, although the team is much better off than two weeks ago, with “only” defenseman Victor Hedman (hand, out another week or two), forward Brett Connolly (lower body, still week-to-week), and forward Alex Killorn (lower body, day-to-day) sitting out. The Red Wings are playing without star forward Pavel Datsyuk (separated shoulder and then a groin), who has enjoyed some big nights against Tampa Bay, but will be boosted by the return of defenseman Kyle Quincey (ankle).

The specter of the trap game will hang over the Bolts starting with the 6 p.m. puck drop this evening at the intimidating Joe Louis Arena and its sea of scarlet-clad fanatics. The game will be televised locally by Sun Sports and radiocast on 970/WFLA.

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So how are the Bolts going to avoid the storied letdown?

First of all, the Lightning can hope for another big outing from goaltender Ben Bishop, who played out of his mind against the Wings last season, owning the 4-1 record while stopping an amazing 94.6% of Detroit’s shots and earning a 1.56 goals against average. So Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper pulled a goalie switcheroo this weekend. Heretofore, Cooper had played Bishop in the opening half of a back-to-back and then started backup Evgeni Nabokov in the second half. Instead, Nabokov played last night against Columbus, looking shaky early and then coming up big at the end to raise his career record to 21-5-3 versus the Blue Jackets. Cooper will be looking like the smartest guy in the room if Bishop continues his wicked ways against the Wings.

Plus, this game is against the freakin’ RED WINGS, one of the great franchises in NHL history. Any player who can’t get the adrenaline going for a game in Detroit probably should turn in his sweater. And let us not forget the Steve Yzerman Factor. The Bolts would never want to let down their general manager on Detroit ice in front of fans who cheered him on to a Hall of Fame playing career. The Red Wings last played Friday evening, a 4-2 win over New Jersey, so Detroit is better rested. The Lightning is 1-2 in the second half of back-to-backs. So what.

Beyond those factors, big players play big in big games, so Steven Stamkos — almost a forgotten man in this high-powered Lightning offense — will undoubtedly be looking for flash his finest form in this Motown melee. Stamkos is quietly off to a big season, averaging a point a game even while sharing the spotlight with all of his new teammates’ star power. Tonight is the kind of night he simply lives for.

Trap game? Probably not, at least for the Lightning.

Detroit enters the scrum with a 7-3-4 record, good for 18 points and third place in the Atlantic Division behind Tampa Bay (10-3-1) and Montreal (10-4-1), tied with 21 points. The Wings have scored 37 goals and allowed 33 in their 14 games, compared to 54 scored and 38 allowed by the Bolts in the same number of outings. Henrik Zetterberg leads Detroit in scoring with 12 points (4G, 8A), while the injured Datsyuk along with Niklas Kronwall and Justin Abdelkader have 10 point apiece. Jimmy Howard (6-2-3, 1.96 GAA, .925 save percentage) will likely be in goal, facing Bishop (8-1-1, 2.41 GAA, .914 save percentage). Tyler Johnson continues his hot hand for the Bolts, leading the team with 17 points after his two-goal night against Columbus. Defenseman Anton Stralman is second in the NHL in plus/minus with +14; he is also headed to maybe the best offensive season in his career. The Lightning have 16 players on the plus side of the plus/minus, likely the most ever at this point in a season but befitting the team with the second-most goals scored in the NHL (54 to Pittsburgh’s 55).

The Lightning players earn a day off on Monday before lacing up against the talented Chicago Blackhawks Tuesday night. And if the Bolts go into that game having defeated Detroit, the pundits will call that one the next trap game in a series of trap games. Winning teams get used to that kind of smack talk, and the Tampa Bay Lightning so far is all kinds of a winning team.

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