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Tampa Bay Lightning Look To Regroup Against The Dallas Stars

By Tasha St. Pierre

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The Tampa Bay Lightning head home to the Amalie Arena looking to regroup from Monday’s loss as they take on the Dallas Stars.

The Tampa Bay Lightning had a very successful start to the 2015-16 season. The Lightning suffered a hiccup on Monday night when they fell 3-1 to the Detroit Red Wings in a rematch from the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals last season. Tonight, the Tampa Bay Lightning return home to the Amalie Arena in hopes of getting back on track with a victory over the Dallas Stars.

Last season, the Tampa Bay Lightning were incredibly successful against the Dallas Stars. The Tampa Bay Lightning saw success in both encounters they had with the Dallas Stars last season. This year, the preseason told a slightly different story. These two teams split their two game preseason series right down the middle with the Tampa Bay Lightning taking the final encounter.

While there are plenty of talented players on the Stars roster who could pose a problem for the Tampa Bay Lightning defense, there is one in particular who the Lightning will need to pay special attention to when the Stars come rolling into town.

On Tuesday night, the Dallas Stars hosted the Edmonton Oilers at the American Airlines Center. Ultimately, the Stars would emerge victorious, thanks in no small part to a hat trick from Stars center Jason Spezza. The second goal in Spezza’s hat trick ended up being the game winning goal for the Stars. According to the Dallas Stars’ official site, this is the sixth of his career and the first as a member of the Stars.

Play like this is of considerable concern; especially with the way the Lightning’s special teams has been performing as of late. While the Power Play has seen a small level of improvement, the penalty kill has not exactly been living up to expectations. Of course, it is still very early in the season and there is plenty of time to make the necessary corrections, but this is something that would better be addressed sooner rather than later.

There has been no official word on who will be between the pipes for the Tampa Bay Lightning as of yet, but one would assume that Lightning goaltender Ben Bishop will carry a large part of the load this season; especially while Andrei Vasilevskiy recovers from successful vascular surgery to remove the blood clot found near his collarbone.

Another issue which needs addressing, which is something we have spoken about for quite some time now, is the overpassing situation. The Tampa Bay Lightning have proven time and time again what can be accomplished when you simply take the shot; especially when they have taken the shot from the blue line. As we said during the game on Tuesday, passing me be pretty and a surefire way to find yourself on the highlight reel, but the one thing it does not do is score goals.

While the Lightning may have experienced a rather large hiccup on Tuesday against the Red Wings, taking six out of a possible eight points in the first four games of the season is nothing to shrug your shoulders at and the Bolts are definitely on the right track to being where they want to be this season. Some minor adjustments should guide the Bolts back on the right track.

It will be interesting to see how tonight’s encounter plays out. Playing in front of the hometown crowd is always an advantage, but that will only take you as far as the crowd is willing to push you. Are you guys and gals here in the Bolts Nation ready to paint your faces, throw on your favorite Lightning jersey and Bring the Thunder for your Tampa Lightning tonight? We know we here at Bolts By The Bay are ready!

The puck drops at 7:30 p.m. Make sure to stay tuned right here at Bolts By The Bay tonight as we bring you all the in-game updates, news, and opinion you could possibly want.

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