Tampa Bay Lightning Vs. Chicago Blackhawks: Behind Enemy Lines

Take a look behind enemy lines as captain Jonathan Toews and the Chicago Blackhawks come flyinghead into the Amalie Arena to do battle with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

In some sense, it has been nice to have a few days off where the Tampa Bay Lightning could sit back and reflect on their experiences in their successful road trip through the Western Conference and really break down what worked, what didn’t work, and what really needs work.

On the other hand, we’re really glad that game day is almost upon us. Much like the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Chicago Blackhawks are dealing with some injuries at least one key player in their overall game plan. Unfortunately, this does not make the Blackhawks any easier of a team to beat.

As we prepare for game day, here is a look behind enemy lines at the Chicago Blackhawks team that thinks they can just fly into the Amalie Arena and ground the Tampa Bay Lightning in our house.

Much like the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Chicago Blackhawks are poised to make a run at the post season. Currently, they are third place in the Central Division and fourth place in the Western Conference with 79 points. The race for the top 5 spot in the Western Conference is still a pretty tight race with each team (except for the first place Nashville Predators) being separated by a mere 3-4 points; a fete easily overcome.

Out of the 61 games they’ve played so far this season, Head Coach Joel Quenneville has led the Hawks to a 36-20-5 record. While on the road like they will be on Friday night, the Hawks are 17-11-1.

There is no denying that the Chicago Blackhawks are going to be one of the more difficult teams that the Tampa Bay Lightning will have to face this season, but the Blackhawks were dealt a mighty blow from that dastardly injury bug.

We told you earlier about the incident that occurred on Tuesday night when the Blackhawks faced off against the Florida Panthers at the Madhouse. Hawks right wing Patrick Kane was cross checked into the boards by Panthers defenseman Alex Petrovic and was forced to leave the game in the first period.

Initially, it was believed that the winger would be forced to miss anywhere between 6-10 weeks as a result of the undisclosed upper body injury. Unfortunately for the Blackhawks, it turned out to be much worse than originally anticipated. Now, the Chicago Blackhawks have revealed that Kane has a broken left clavicle and will be forced miss 12 weeks.

In other words, there is almost no chance that Kane will be able to return to the bench for the Blackhawks this season, even if they do make a deep run into the playoffs.

Oh…did we forget to mention that he is the Blackhawks leader in every manner of scoring, and the point leader in the National Hockey League at the moment?

The 26 year old right winger has played in all 61 games the Hawks have played this season where he’s scored 27 goals and 37 assists for a total of 64 points to accompany his plus-10 rating.

We think it is safe to say that this puts the Hawks in a bit of a bind heading into Friday’s game against the Bolts. Needless to say, the Blackhawks have plenty of other players like Patrick Sharp and Kris Versteeg who have the ability to step up and help heal some of the gap.

There have also been reports that the Hawks have recalled up center Teuvo Teravainen from the Hawks AHL affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs. So far this season with the IceHogs, the 20 year old Finnish center has scored 6 goals and 19 assists for a total of 25 points. Granted, these aren’t Patrick Kane kind of numbers, but they may be just what the Hawks need to spark their offense.

On the flip side, Teravainen got off to a pretty good start last night as the Chicago Blackhawks shut out the Florida Panthers 3-0 down in Sunrise. Teravainen got the Blackhawks on the board first with a goal just over three minutes into the first period.

The Blackhawks are a very well put together team that has the kind of chemistry that the Lightning has been building towards this season. They may have fallen on hard times in the last few games, and will most definitely be feeling the effects of exhaustion from their back to back, but a team which has won the Stanley Cup twice in the last five years didn’t get to where they are today by backing down.

The Tampa Bay Lightning will have a bit of an advantage as they have had a few days off in order to recoup some of their energy, look back on their road trip and evaluate what worked, and most of all focus on the road ahead. Not to mention the fact that tonight’s encounter is completely sold out, so there will be plenty of people to Be The Thunder and help guide the Bolts to victory.

The puck drops at 7:30 p.m. EST here at the Amalie Arena. Need to know where you can catch the game? Click here for all the information you’ll need to make sure you don’t miss a moment of the action as the Tampa Bay Lightning do battle with the Chicago Blackhawks.

Next: Tampa Bay Lightning Star of the Week: Road Trip Edition

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