Tampa Bay Lightning Long To Get Back On Track
The Tampa Bay Lightning has a chance to get back on track as they take on the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The Tampa Bay Lightning has spent the last couple of months on quite the rollercoaster. Unfortunately, the rollercoaster ride came to an abrupt end on March 7th when the Tampa Bay Lightning was derailed at the hands of the Philadelphia Flyers in a 4-2 loss at the Wells Fargo Center in Philly. Ever since then, the Lightning has seemingly fallen into a particularly deep rut.
This afternoon, the Tampa Bay Lightning has an opportunity to right the ship and continue to fight for a comfortable position in the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Tampa Bay Lightning are set to square off with the Columbus Blue Jackets in a Sunday matinee from the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.
You wouldn’t know it if you look at their win/loss ratio this season, but the Columbus Blue Jackets are pretty stacked with players who can find the back of the net with ease. A total of five Blue Jackets players have cracked the 20 goal mark so far this season; three of which as in a three-way tie for first place. Blue Jackets forwards Cam Atkinson, Brandon Saad, and Boone Jenner have all brought home 24 goals thus far.
On the other side of the ice, Lightning right wing Nikita Kucherov continues to lead the way for the Tampa Bay Lightning. So far this season, the 22-year-old Russian forward has scored 25 goals and 29 assists for a total of 54 points.
Right on the heels of Nikita Kucherov is Tampa Bay Lightning captain Steven Stamkos. The young Lightning captain leads the team in goals scored with 29. If you add in his 23 assists so far this season, you come up with a grand total of 52 points.
While the Columbus Blue Jackets may not look like much in black and white, this does not mean the Tampa Bay Lightning can phone it in today. After their recent skid, the Tampa Bay Lightning has plummeted to third place in the Atlantic Division. If they drop another couple games, they could very well find themselves out of the playoffs altogether.
This afternoon’s Eastern Conference showdown is going to be a must-win for the Tampa Bay Lightning. Not only would it set the Tampa Bay Lightning on the right track as they embark on a four-game road trip, but it will give them an opportunity to gain some ground on teams like the Boston Bruins and Florida Panthers, who are respectively ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning in the current standings.
One aspect of the game the Tampa Bay Lightning really need to work on is their penalty kill. On Friday night as the Tampa Bay Lightning took on the Philadelphia Flyers for the second time in a week, two of the three goals scored for the Flyers came while they were on the Power Play.
As anyone here in the Bolts Nation knows, the Tampa Bay Lightning has been struggling on special teams for a good portion of the season. Unfortunately, it seems to be getting worse as the season continues on. There are only one of two ways the Tampa Bay Lightning can prevent this from affecting their game. They can both tighten up on special teams and start capitalizing on their opportunities, or they need to stay out of the penalty box. It really is as simple as that.
As we mentioned before, the Tampa Bay Lightning has a valuable opportunity in front of them tonight. The Lightning are up against a team that is down on their luck this season, and if the Lightning can manage to play the kind of game they did on Tuesday night against the Boston Bruins, the Bolts will find themselves in a favorable position when the final buzzer sounds this afternoon.
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It won’t be long now until we can sit back and watch how this all plays out on the ice. The puck is scheduled to drop at 3:00 p.m. EST. Make sure to stay connected right here at Bolts By The Bay as we bring you all the latest action and updates from all around the Bolts Nation.