Tampa Bay Lightning Head Home To Face Colorado Avalanche

The Tampa Bay Lightning head home to the Amalie Arena after their four-game road trip to face captain Gabriel Landeskog and the Colorado Avalanche.

It’s almost goes without saying the Tampa Bay Lightning are happy to be back in the Bolts Nation after their most recent four-game road trip through the Western Conference. While they did come out of the trip with at least half of the possible points they could have obtained, the Bolts remain scoreless through six straight periods of regulation.

Tonight, the Tampa Bay Lightning has the perfect opportunity to get back on track and stop the hockey world from imploding as they charge back into the Amalie Arena in the hopes of bringing home the two points as they face off with captain Gabriel Landeskog and the Colorado Avalanche.

Last season, these two teams split their series right down the center. While both of their encounters turned out to be fairly high scoring games, especially their game on February 22, 2015 when the Avalanche defeated the Lightning 5-4 at the Pepsi Center, both of their meetings last season were decided by a single goal.

Unfortunately for the Avalanche, this season has not brought them much luck in terms of the wins category. The Colorado Avalanche has only been successful in two of their eight games this season. This places them in 12^th place in the Western Conference with only 5 points to their name.

While tonight’s encounter may seem like a walk in the park for the Tampa Bay Lightning, this is the kind of situation in which the Lightning need to make sure they have their “A” game intact. If there is anything taught to us by teams like the Buffalo Sabres last season, it is to never underestimate a good team while they are down.

At the same time, this very same thing can be said about the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Bolts may have had a fairly successful four-game road trip, they were still held scoreless for six periods of play in their last two games. Absolutely no one expected this kind of result from a team like the Tampa Bay Lightning who is absolutely jam-packed with all kinds of offensive firepower.

One of the players we are most surprised to see held off the scoreboard is Lightning center Tyler Johnson. Along with his linemates Nikita Kucherov and Ondrej Palat, the Triplets line accounted for 200 of the Lightning’s 699 overall points last season. This is almost 1/3 of the team’s total points held by one single line.

Leading the way for the Colorado Avalanche this season is their captain, Gabriel Landeskog. In the eight games they’ve played so far this season, Landeskog has scored five goals and two assists for a total of seven points. Landeskog leads the Avs in both goals and overall points.

On the other side of the ice, it is Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman who is leading the way for the Lightning. Despite not scoring a single goal yet this season, Hedman leads the Lightning with a whopping nine assists. Right behind Hedman is the Lightning’s leading goal-scorer, captain Steven Stamkos. Stamkos has scored five goals and two assists this season for a total of seven points.

On the injury front, the according to Tampa Bay Times Staff Writer Joe Smith, the Tampa Bay Lightning has recalled center Jonathan Marchessault from the Syracuse Crunch. This move more than likely means Brian Boyle and/or Cedric Paquette will not be ready to return tonight against the Avalanche.

If there is anything that can be said about tonight’s matchup between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Colorado Avalanche, it is that it will be incredibly exciting to watch all of the action play out on the ice. Both of these teams are hungry for a win and looking for a little redemption for their performances as of late.

The puck is scheduled to drop at 7:30 p.m. tonight. The Tampa Bay Lightning are finally back home, and they are going to need their Thunder now more than ever as they look to stop the Colorado Avalanche cold in their tracks. Are you ready to Be The Thunder tonight?

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