Tampa Bay Lightning Shift Focus On Vancouver Canucks Following Short Break
By Will Clewis
Following a home win and a road loss over the weekend, the Tampa Bay Lightning will shift its focus to the Vancouver Canucks tonight after a short break this week.
On Saturday, the Tampa Bay Lightning picked up a much-needed victory over the Washington Capitals, as the team had lost its previous four games and was in a bit of a free fall. However, the Lightning failed to earn its second straight win and was blanked 1-0 by the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday, getting shut out for the second time this season.
Following that home-road split, the Tampa Bay Lightning currently sits outside of the playoff picture and is two points back of the Boston Bruins for third place in the Atlantic Division. Though the short break was beneficial to the team, the Lightning needs to get back on track and regain positioning within the top-3 in the division.
Now, the Lightning will shift its focus to the Vancouver Canucks this evening before hosting the defending Stanley Cup Champions, the Pittsburgh Penguins, on Saturday and heading out on another quick road trip next week. These next four points at home are up for grabs and need to be taken before a quick swing through Western Canada.
Tampa Bay Lightning
Though the regular season may still be fresh and there’s a long way to go, it’s come to the point where we need to see more consistency from Tampa Bay, and it needs to come soon. With that in mind, let’s take a look at tonight’s opponent.
The Vancouver Canucks (11-13-2) will take on the Tampa Bay Lightning (14-11-2) at Amalie Arena for its 13th road game of the year. To this point, Vancouver has a record of 3-8-1 away from Rogers Arena and is converting on 13.9 percent of its opportunities on the Power Play on the road, which is 19th in the NHL. In contrast, the Lightning own the league’s 12th best Penalty Kill at home, killing off 84.4 percent of its penalties.
The Canucks have done fairly well at home this season with an 8-5-1 record and an 84.3 Penalty Kill percentage, which the NHL’s eighth-best on home ice. However, Vancouver has struggled to score goals this season, at home and on the road, and it won’t get any easier inside one of the league’s best home environments at Amalie Arena, where the Lightning possesses one of the best home records over the past few seasons.
Currently, the Canucks have scored the fourth-fewest goals in the NHL (57) and are scoring a 2.19 goals for per game average, which is the third-lowest the league. On the flip side, the team has given up the eighth most goals in the NHL (77) and is giving up around 2.96 goals against per game. Thus, Vancouver has one of the worst goal differentials in the league (minus-18).
Vancouver’s leading scorers, Henrik and Daniel Sedin, only have 17 points each on the season and no player on the team has more than eight goals. The Canucks’ noteworthy free-agent signing over the summer, Loui Eriksson, only has six goals, 11 points and a minus-9 rating. Essentially, not much is going well for this team so far, as most people expected.
On the Lightning side of things, Tampa Bay is coming off an overtime loss to the Hurricanes on Sunday, but the team was fortunate to have a quick three day break, which is something it desperately needed. The Lightning needs to find more consistency as the season moves deeper into the month of December and tonight would be a good start against a lesser opponent.
Though the Canucks has struggled to score goals this season, the Tampa Bay Lightning has been able to find the back of the net quite often and is eighth in the NHL in scoring, with 75 goals overall. In addition, the Lightning is scoring an average of 2.78 goals per game, which is ninth in the NHL, and the team is tied with the first-place Montreal Canadiens for most goals scored in the Atlantic Division with 75.
Related Story: Ryan Callahan Feeling Better After Break
As previously mentioned, the Lightning has one of the league’s better Penalty Kill percentages at home, and the team has one of the top-4 Power Play units in the NHL, converting on 22.9 percent of its opportunities. The Lightning shouldn’t have any issues scoring against one of the NHL’s below average goaltending tandems.
Canucks netminder, Ryan Miller, is expected to get the start tonight, as is goaltender Ben Bishop for the Lightning. Head-to-head, Miller has a 5-9-0 record, .911 save percentage and a 2.73 goals against average in 14 starts.
On the other side of the ice, Bishop has an 8-9-1 record, .910 save percentage and a 2.74 goals against average. It appears both netminders have similar stats, so we’ll see who emerges victorious tonight.
Bishop’s performances over the weekend were encouraging, though, as he posted a 1-0-1 record, only gave up two goals and eclipsed a .967 save percentage or higher in both games. Hopefully tonight Bishop will tack on another win and improve to 9-9-1 on the season.
Some key players to watch out for in tonight’s match-up include Lightning forwards Nikita Kucherov, who still leads the team in goals and points (13-16–29) and is second in the NHL in overall points, and Brayden Point, who has two goals on the season and I feel is due for another goal or two sooner or later.
As for Vancouver, the Sedin twins are always a threat to look out for, and forward Bo Horvat, who has eight goals and 16 points and is one point behind the Sedins for the team lead, could be a factor against the Lightning tonight.
Next: Lightning Vs. Canucks: Game Day Injury Update
The Tampa Bay Lightning is in search of a spark and hopefully tonight’s game will be the start of a new winning streak. Though the Lightning is still in the thick of things in the Eastern Conference, it’s important that the team doesn’t lose its positioning, even if it’s still only December. Tune in for puck drop at 7:30 p.m. locally on Fox Sports Sun and Lightning Radio, 970 WFLA. You can watch the entire game on the run with the Fox Sports Go app in select areas. Go Bolts!
TV/Radio/Live Stream Information
Game 28 match-up: Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Vancouver Canucks
Venue: Amalie Arena
Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
Watch/Listen: FS-Sun, 970 WFLA, TBL Power Play, Fox Sports Go
Opponent FanSided site: The Canuck Way
Projected Lines (subject to change)
Tampa Bay Lightning
Forwards
Alex Killorn – Vladislav Namestnikov – Nikita Kucherov
Jonathan Drouin – Valtteri Filppula – Brayden Point
Ondrej Palat – Tyler Johnson – Joel Vermin
Brian Boyle – J.T. Brown – Cedric Paquette
Defensemen
Victor Hedman – Anton Stralman
Braydon Coburn – Luke Witkowski
Goaltenders
Injuries and Scratches: Ryan Callahan (lower-body), Steven Stamkos (knee), Slater Koekkoek (healthy scratch), Nikita Nesterov (healthy scratch)
Vancouver Canucks
Forwards
Daniel Sedin – Henrik Sedin – Brandon Sutter
Markus Granlund – Michael Chaput – Loui Eriksson
Sven Baertschi – Bo Horvat – Alex Burrows
Jack Skille – Brandan Gaunce – Joseph LaBate
Defensemen
Goaltenders
Injuries and Scratches: Alexander Edler (broken finger, four-to-six weeks), Derek Dorsett (shoulder, day to day), Philip Larsen (undisclosed, day-to-day), Chris Tanev (foot, indefinitely), Jannik Hansen (fractured rib, four-to-six weeks)