Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
February
The month of love looks like Armageddon on paper for the Lightning. The Bolts will face almost exclusively Western Conference teams, a majority of which come from the power elite Pacific Division. And if that wasn’t enough, these games take place almost entirely on the road.
Opening on Feb. 3, the month leads off with two Western Conference playoff qualifiers, the St. Louis Blues followed by the Dallas Stars on Feb.5.
The defending Stanley Cup Champions, Los Angeles Kings, figure largely in this month as the Bolts face them twice. Game One against the Kings (Feb. 7) starts the first of three back-to-backs (that’s right) in the month (Anaheim Ducks lead off on Feb. 8). Then Los Angeles gets to host the second game of a back-to-back on Feb. 16 after the Bolts get through a battle with the Sharks the previous day on the road.
Can you say damn? And those are just what sticks out, honestly, just about every game of this month presents a challenge to Tampa Bay.
That Sharks/Kings back-to-back starts off a five-game road trip that sees the Bolts meet up with the Ducks (Feb. 18), the ‘Yotes, and the ‘Lanche (the third back-to-back on Feb. 21 and 22), before heading home for a one-off against the always extremely good Chicago Blackhawks.
The Bolts almost seemed lucky to meet Chicago early last season, with much success, then never seeing them again. Look for the Blackhawks, by February, to be well in the rhythm of what makes them a Cup threat every year; thusly, seeing Chicago anytime in 2015 is going to be a tough challenge.
If Tampa Bay meets this challenge well, grabbing as many points as they can muster, while not getting lost in any losing streaks (which could easily happen against this level of competition), then that could curtail nicely into the next long, but home-heavy month of March.
Home/Away Breakdowns: 4/8; Total Games: 12
Toughest Matchups: The ENTIRE month is a “Toughest Matchup”.
Key Facts: three road trips (one two-game, one out and back to Nashville, one five-game); three back-to-backs; 24 possible points
Month Difficulty: Apocalypse Now