The Tampa Bay Lightning head home to the Amalie Arena to face off with the Detroit Red Wings in a must-win Atlantic Division showdown.
The Tampa Bay Lightning split their recent four-game road trip right down the middle, picking up wins against the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Arizona Coyotes. Now, the Tampa Bay Lightning head home to the Amalie Arena right here in sunny Tampa, Florida to face a must-win showdown with the Detroit Red Wings.
Tomorrow night’s encounter will be the fourth and final meeting between these two teams over the regular season. So far this season, the Red Wings have the upper hand when it comes to the dealings between these two teams. Despite the much-needed two points from tomorrow night’s contest, this will give the Tampa Bay Lightning an opportunity to split the series with the Red Wings.
Including tomorrow night’s Atlantic Division showdown, there are only 10 games remaining in the regular season. In other words, the Tampa Bay Lightning need to strengthen their core and get back to the basics; scoring goals and winning games.
The Detroit Red Wings are coming into this encounter on quite the high note. On Saturday night, the Detroit Red Wings made short work for the current Atlantic Division leaders, the Florida Panthers, in a 5-3 victory at the BB&T Center in Sunrise. Now, they make their way to the Amalie Arena in the hopes of doing the same thing to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Thankfully, the Lightning may just have something to say about this.
The Tampa Bay Lightning are headed into this encounter on a win of their own. As most of you know by now, Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Ben Bishop picked up his 30th win of the season in a 2-0 shutout of the Arizona Coyotes. Ben Bishop’s 15th career shutout set a new franchise record for the Tampa Bay Lightning, passing former Lightning goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin for the number one spot.
Despite their mostly-successful play on Saturday night, the Tampa Bay Lightning still have some things they need to clear up if they want to continue to be successful this season. The biggest piece to this puzzle is consistency. The Lightning did a good job of setting the tone against the Coyotes; however, they seemed to fall back into old habits as the game moved on. This needs to end quickly.
As most of you know by now, we have preached this mantra over and over this season to the point it must sound like a broken record by now. Unfortunately, the only people with the power to affect any real change in this matter are the guys on the ice in the blue jerseys.
The second issue in desperate need of addressing is the overpassing. Here is what a typical play looks like from the average Tampa Bay Lightning. “Get the Puck, Pass, Pass, Pass, Pass, shooting opportunity but pass anyway, pass, pass, turnover.”
The Tampa Bay Lightning seriously need to evaluate their system and move to more of a “shoot first” mentality. There are players on the team who are more than capable of finding their way to the back of the net. Unfortunately, some of them are held back by the overpassing method. So your first shot doesn’t go in. No big deal. What do you do next? You dig for the rebound, of course.
It has been proven over the course of the decades the National Hockey League has been in existence that even the most elite goaltenders in the world can’t be everywhere at once. If you continually dig for the rebound and send the puck flying back towards the net, eventually, one of those pucks are going to go in.
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Speaking of pucks going into the back of the net, there are a couple of Red Wings players the Tampa Bay Lightning will need to pay special attention to if they want to come home with the victory tomorrow night. The first and foremost of those players is Detroit Red Wings rookie center Dylan Larkin.
Larkin currently leads the Red Wings in goals scored with 21. Add in the 22 assists he’s brought home this season and you come up with a grand total of 43 points. Two of those points came on Saturday night against the Florida Panthers when he came up with a goal and an assist.
The other player the Lightning need to be weary of is Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg. The veteran left wing currently leads the team in assists and overall points. Zetterberg has scored 13 goals and 31 assists so far this season for a total of 44 points. Both Larkin and Zetterberg have proven their worth as playmakers and as valuable members of the Red Wings lineup. If there is anyone the Lightning should pay mind to, it’s them.
On the other side of the ice, there are two players who are in a neck and neck battle for first place on the team. One of those players is Tampa Bay Lightning captain Steven Stamkos. Steven Stamkos is the only player on the team right now who has played in every game this season with the Bolts. Over that period of time, he has scored 33 goals and 25 assists for a total of 58 points. He leads the Bolts in goals and is tied for overall points.
Tied with Steven Stamkos for first place on the team in terms of overall points is right wing Nikita Kucherov. The 22-year-old Lightning winger has brought home 27 goals and 31 assists so far this season for a grand total of 58 points. If Kucherov had not suffered a number of injuries this season, there is a good possibility it may be Steven Stamkos chasing Nikita Kucherov and not the other way around.
There is no denying the Tampa Bay Lightning has everything within their power to do what needs to be done. The team may be dealing with a series of illnesses at the moment, but the Tampa Bay Lightning has some of the best depth in the National Hockey League. All the Bolts need to do is focus on the task at hand.
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As we mentioned before, this is definitely a must-win game for the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Tampa Bay Lightning are just two points behind the Atlantic Division leading Florida Panthers. Should the Lightning come home with the win, they will gain some ground on the cats. On the other hand, the Red Wings are clawing to maintain their wild card spot. It’s definitely going to be an intense battle you won’t want to miss.