The Tampa Bay Lightning faces a tough challenge as they head to the Verizon Center to take on the Eastern Conference leading Washington Capitals.
The Tampa Bay Lightning has definitely faced their fair share of challenges this season, but the toughest one of the season may be in front of them tonight. In just a few hours, the Tampa Bay Lightning will charge into the Verizon Center and take on the Eastern Conference leading Washington Capitals.
The Lightning have not had a lot of success this season against the Capitals. In their first encounter on November 27th, also at the Verizon Center, the Capitals defeated the Lightning 4-2. Just over two weeks later, the Capitals would venture to the Amalie Arena where they would defeat the Bolts once again, this time 2-1. Tonight’s encounter will be the third and final time these two teams will meet this season.
Both the Lightning and the Capitals are coming into tonight’s encounter on a win streak. The Lightning successfully brought home four points over the course of their back-to-back series earlier in the week with wins over the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Toronto Maple Leafs.
On the other side of the ice, the Capitals are looking to extend their win streak to four. They successfully defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Pittsburgh Penguins, and the Ottawa Senators on their road to the Verizon Center tonight. One thing we know for sure is both of these Eastern Conference teams are going to be looking for a win, and will put everything on the line in order to achieve their goals.
Leading the way for the Tampa Bay Lightning in goals right now is right wing Nikita Kucherov. In the 32 games he suited up for thus far, Kucherov has brought home 12 goals and eight assists for a total of 20 points. These numbers put Kucherov in second place on the team in overall points. In first place on the team in overall points is Tampa Bay Lightning captain Steven Stamkos. Stamkos has netted 11 goals and 11 assists for a total of 22 points.
As we take a closer look at the other side of the ice, there are two players in particular in the Washington Capitals lineup the Lightning need to pay close attention to on the ice. The first of those players is captain Alex Ovechkin. Ovechkin leads the Capitals in goals with 14. Add in his 11 assists and this gives him a total of 25 points. Leading the way for the Caps in both assists and overall points is center Evgeny Kuznetsov.
Kuznetsov has definitely been a thorn in the side of the Tampa Bay Lightning this season. In the Lightning’s first encounter with the Capitals this season, Kuznetsov brought home two assists. In their second encounter, which was on December 12th at the Amalie Arena, Kuznetsov scored the game winning goal.
The Tampa Bay Lightning are being absolutely plagued by injuries this season. As the Bolts head into the Verizon Center tonight, there are a total of six players – some of which are key players in the Lightning’s offensive structure – who will not be able to take the ice. The Lightning will be without centers Tyler Johnson (Undisclosed) and Cedric Paquette (Lower Body Injury) and wingers Erik Condra (Lower Body Injury), Jonathan Drouin (Lower Body Injury), Ondrej Palat (Lower Body Injury), and Joel Vermin (Lower Body Injury).
It’s been incredibly difficult for the Lightning to find some sort of chemistry considering all of the injuries and roster changes that has needed to be made, but Tampa Bay Lightning Head Coach Jon Cooper has done a pretty good job of making it happen and keeping the Lightning on the right track.
As we said before, the Tampa Bay Lightning face a tough challenge tonight, but given the way they’ve been playing over the last couple of games the Lightning have a pretty good chance of meeting this challenge head on and coming home with the two points.
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In just a few more hours, we’ll get to watch as everything plays out on the ice. The puck is scheduled to drop at 7:00 p.m. Make sure to stay connected right here to Bolts By The Bay as we bring you all the latest Tampa Bay Lightning, news, updates, commentary, and more.