The Tampa Bay Lightning kick off a four-game road trip on Tuesday night as they make a stop at the Scotiabank Saddledome to take on the Calgary Flames.
The Tampa Bay Lightning has had their fair share of struggles this season, but as the many injured players the Lightning have had to play without this season get healthy and make their return to the Lightning lineup, the Bolts are able to work on rebuilding their chemistry and really concentrate on what matters most, winning games.
On Saturday night at the Amalie Arena, Tampa Bay Lightning left wing Ondrej Palat made his return to the Lightning lineup, after missing a total of 20 games due to a lower body injury, in the Lightning’s 3-2 shootout win over the Minnesota Wild. This left just one player, Lightning right wing Joel Vermin, on the Lightning’s injured list.
As the Tampa Bay Lightning travel to the great, white north to kick off a four-game road trip with a stop at the Scotiabank Saddledome to face off with the Calgary Flames, the Lightning look to regain some of the chemistry they had during the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs and finally find some positive consistency this season.
Leading the way for the Tampa Bay Lightning this season is Lightning right wing Nikita Kucherov. In the 39 games the 22 year old Moscow native has played with the Bolts this season, Kucherov has scored 14 goals and 16 assists for a total of 30 points. Kucherov is currently tied with Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman in terms of assists and ranked first on the team in overall points.
Tampa Bay Lightning captain Steven Stamkos is leading the team in goals scored so far this season. In the 39 games Stamkos has played in, the 25 year old sniper has registered 16 goals and 13 assists for a total of 29 points.
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On the other side of the ice, there is one player in particular the Tampa Bay Lightning need to be wary of. Flames left wing Johnny Gaudreau is leading the way for Calgary in all manners scoring. In the 38 games the Flames have played thus far this season, Gaudreau has scored 17 goals and 22 assists for a total of 39 points.
Scarily enough, one of the biggest advantages the Tampa Bay Lightning has over the Calgary Flames in their upcoming encounter comes in the absolute last place one would expect. The Calgary Flames are actually experiencing more difficulties on both the Power Play and the Penalty Kill than the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The Tampa Bay Lightning has registered 26 Power Play Goals in the 136 opportunities they’ve had presented with so far this season. This gives the Lightning a Power Play Percentage of 19.1. On the other side of the ice, the Flames have brought home 15 Power Play Goals in a total of 122 opportunities. This gives the Flames a Power Play Percentage of 12.3. This places the Flames in last place in the National Hockey League.
Things are not looking much better for the Flames in terms of Penalty Kill. The Tampa Bay Lightning has allowed a total of 24 Goals Against while on the penalty kill in the 117 times the Bolts have found themselves short-handed thus far this season. This gives the Lightning a Penalty Kill Percentage of 79.5. This places the Bolts in 19th place in the league on the Penalty Kill.
At the same time, the Calgary Flames have allowed 24 Power Play Goals Against them in the 94 times they’ve been short-handed so far this season. This gives the Flames a Penalty Kill Percentage of 74.5. Once again, this places the Flames in last place in the league on the Penalty Kill.
Ironically enough, in addition to the similar places the Lightning and Flames find themselves in their respective divisions, Tampa Bay and Calgary are coming into Tuesday night’s encounter in much the same situation.
The Tampa Bay Lightning snapped a two-game losing streak with their 3-2 shootout win over the Minnesota Wild on Saturday night. Also on Saturday night, the Calgary Flames ended a two-game losing streak of their own with a 4-0 shutout win over the Colorado Avalanche Pepsi Center in Denver.
As you can clearly see, there are a lot of similarities between these two opponents. The victor of this game is going to be decided by one single factor; which team wants the two points the most.
Now that the Triplets are finally reunited and most of the Lightning’s injured players are back in the lineup, the Bolts can get back to business and show the National Hockey League the Lightning are in fact the same team that battled for the Stanley Cup last season and they have every intention of fighting the same battle once again this season.
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The puck is scheduled to drop at 9:00 p.m. on Tuesday night at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary. 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.