Tampa Bay Lightning Look To Strike Once Again in Chicago

The Tampa Bay Lightning look to keep their win streak going strong as they head into the United Center to take on Jonathan Toews and the Chicago Blackhawks.

The Tampa Bay Lightning has really been making a statement to the rest of the National Hockey League over the past few weeks. As they prepare to head into the United Center tonight to take on the Chicago Blackhawks, the Bolts are riding a six-game win streak. This is something they look to continue tonight.

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There is no doubt that the Lightning has been incredibly efficient in the scoring department. Since their current win streak started, which was back on October 28^th against the Arizona Coyotes, the Bolts have outscored their opponents 31-18.

The Bolts have multiple lines that perform just as well, if not better, than the official top line.

The line consisting of center Tyler Johnson, left wing Ondrej Palat, and right wing Nikita Kucherov accounts for nine goals and twelve assists over the course of the last six games, which comes together for a total of twenty-one points.

We don’t know about you, but this team could very well be the line to beat this season. Their chemistry, puck handling, and all around speed makes them a deadly combination.

The difference between the Chicago Blackhawks and some of the other teams that the Lightning has faced off with this season is that the Blackhawks have one of the best defenses in the NHL. Let’s face it; their offense is no slouch either.

Statistically, when you break it down, the Blackhawks are heading into this with the advantage. Let’s take a quick look at the numbers break down courtesy of ESPN.

	Bolts	Hawks
Goals Per Game	3.8	2.6
Goals Against Per Game	2.67	1.87
Shots on Goal Per Game	30.13	38
Penalty Minutes Per Game	9.8	7.87
Power Play Goals	14	11
Power Play Percentage	26.4%	19%
Penalty Kill Percentage	76.1%	91.1%

While many of the stats like Goals Per Game, Shots on Goal, Penalty Minutes, and such may line up fairly nicely, there is one thing that could be the difference maker in this game. The Lightning have a pretty strong Power Play with 26.4%; however, the Chicago Blackhawks lead the NHL in Penalty Kill with 91.1%.

The Blackhawks are not usually a team to find themselves in the Penalty Box, but when they do they seem to have a knack for keeping the puck out of the net.

One thing that these two teams have in common is top notch goaltending. We all know how Big Ben Bishop stands up against the competition. In the 12 games he’s played so far this season, he’s gone 9-1-1 with a Goals Allowed Average of 2.44 and a Save Percentage of .910.

On the other side of the ice, the Blackhawks have netminder Corey Crawford. In his 9 games, Crawford has gone 5-3-1 with a Goals Allowed Average of just 1.75 and a Save Percentage of .932.

As you can tell, like we said before, this is going to mean that the Lightning are going to have to work that much harder, not only to make it past the defense, but past Crawford.

This game has all the factors necessary to ensure an exciting game. Both teams are hungry enough to chase after every point they can get early in the season to put themselves in a position to be in the chase for the Stanley Cup when April rolls around.

It may be a while before we truly get into playoff mode, but no one here in the Bolts Nation can deny that they don’t enjoy chilling at the top of the standings in not just the Atlantic Division, but the league as well.

It won’t be long now until we see if the Lightning were able to keep the streak alive. The puck drops at 8:30 p.m. tonight at the United Center in Chicago.

What do you think the score will be when the final buzzer sounds? Which Lightning player do you think will rise up to the task and score first? Who do you think will have the greatest impact on tonight’s game? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

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