Tampa Bay Lightning Face Tough Challenge In Final Half Of Their Road Trip

The Tampa Bay Lightning face a tough challenge as they kick off the back half of their current six-game road trip at the United Center against the Chicago Blackhawks.

The Tampa Bay Lightning has been through some tough times this season. Some of those tough times were self-inflicted while others have brought nothing but doom and gloom to the Bolts Nation. If the Lightning has any hopes of salvaging their season, they will have to make their move now.

As the Tampa Bay Lightning embarks on the back half of their current six-game road trip, they will face a rather tough challenge. Tonight, the Lightning will charge into the United Center to take on captain Jonathan Toews and the Chicago Blackhawks. This is one of just two times these two teams will meet this season.

These two teams come into tonight’s contest in two very different positions. The Chicago Blackhawks are currently on a three-game winning streak, looking to expand to four with a victory over the Lightning tonight. Unlike the competition, the Blackhawks are currently in second place in the Central Division.

Tampa Bay Lightning /

Tampa Bay Lightning

Then, we have the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Lightning have dropped three of their last five games, including a painful 5-3 loss to the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday night. Thanks to this loss, the Lightning have slipped into last place in the Atlantic Division and 27^th place in the entire National Hockey League.

Considering at the onset of the season, the Tampa Bay Lightning were considered the team to beat for the Stanley Cup, the Lightning has sure fallen pretty far and hard. While doomsday for the Bolts may be at hand, the Lightning still has a chance (albeit, slim) to pull themselves out of this whole and remain contenders.

How can a team like this accomplish this kind of feat, you may ask? Well, the first and foremost thing on the list is consistency. With injuries bearing down hard on the Lightning lineup this season, finding any semblance of consistency has seemed like an unattainable task.

Well…the Lightning has passed the turning point in the season, and the time for excuses has come and gone. The Lightning are capable of far more than they have been showing as of late, and it is incredibly disheartening for fans to watch night in and night out.

The simple fact of the matter is if the Lightning wants to salvage what’s left of their season, they will have to take at least half of the available points on this road trip. In other words, they’ll need to win out the remainder of the road trip. Coming up against a team like the Blackhawks, this is not going to be a simple task.

One of the biggest keys to a Lightning victory tonight will be the defense working together as one and taking some of the pressure off their goaltender. One player the Lightning defense will need to be mindful of in tonight’s encounter is Blackhawks leading point scorer, Patrick Kane.

Kane is just one of a handful of Blackhawks players who have played in all 49 games with the team this season. In that amount of time, Kane has amassed 15 goals and 33 assists for a total of 48 points. As we mentioned previously, this places him in first place on the team in overall points. He also leads the team in assists.

The Chicago Blackhawks have a dangerous offense. Of course, a team would need to be in order for them to make their way to the Top 5 in the National Hockey League. This means two things. The first of which is the defense will need to be strong tonight. The second is the Lightning offense will need to hit the Hawks just as hard.

Leading the way for the Tampa Bay Lightning is forward Nikita Kucherov. In the 41 games he’s played this season, Kucherov has brought home 17 goals and 25 assists for a total of 42 points to accompany his plus-6 rating. All eyes will be looking to him to spark the Lightning’s offense tonight and get things rolling against the Hawks.

According to the NHL, it’s expected Lightning netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy will get the start between the pipes tonight as the Lightning take on the Blackhawks. Vasilevskiy hasn’t exactly had what one would consider a banner season this year.

In the 23 starts Vasy has gotten this season, he has gone 10-11-2 this season with a Goals Allowed Average of 2.86 and a Save Percentage of .907. This is a far cry from the record the 22-year-old netminder maintained at the beginning of the season.

On the other side of the ice, the Lightning will be facing down Blackhawks netminder Corey Crawford. Crawford has had a pretty good season thus far. The 32-year-old netminder has got the start in 31 games so far this season with the Hawks. In that amount of time, he’s maintained a record of 18-10-3 along with a Goals Allowed Average of 2.52 and a Save Percentage of .919.

Next: Lightning Reach A Turning Point In Season

Needless to say, the Tampa Bay Lightning are going to have to bring their ‘A’ game if they want to emerge victoriously in the Windy City. The question is, do the Bolts have what it takes to pull it together and salvage what is left of their season? Only time will tell this tale.