Welcome, My Kings: Previewing the Lightning vs Kings Matchup

After a day of no NHL hockey because of COVID concerns, the Tampa Bay Lightning start their homestand against the Los Angeles Kings, a team that has been very inconsistent in a season where everyone thought they would have a chance at the playoffs.

With the Lightning going back home after a 4-0 loss against the Ottawa Senators a couple of nights before, they look to redeem themselves with a strong outing Tuesday night. It will be a tough battle, however, as the Kings have very strong goaltending in Jonathan Quick and Cal Petersen.

Top Players:

The Lightning have some of the best all-around force in the league, being in the top for offense, defense, and goaltending. We will go over the top players in points for the Lightning and the Kings, comparing the two of them.

Steven Stamkos: 13G 19A 32P
Victor Hedman: 5G 22A 27P
Alex Killorn: 8G 15A 23P

The Lightning’s offense has continued to produce, but struggles have shown with being able to continue applying pressure in the offensive zone. The issues with that have led to the Lightning losing games that they shouldn’t have lost.

The Lightning’s defense has been stronger than ever, helping the offense out as much as possible with a nearly full health defense. With Victor Hedman and Mikhail Sergachev leading the defense, it makes it difficult for opponents to break through.

The Kings have a lot of high quality players, including Anze Kopitar, Jonathan Quick, and Phillip Danault. While the Kings have many great players, they have not been able to produce offensively the way they were expected to, which has led to another disappointing start to their season.

Anze Kopitar: 8G 16A 24P
Adrian Kempe: 11G 5A 16P
Alex Iafallo: 9G 7A 16P

The Kings offense has done a lot of great work, but as seen by these stats, too many players rely on scoring goals rather than making plays that can benefit the team greatly. With playmaking being an issue, if the Kings can add a top 6 playmaker, they still have a chance to make the playoffs.

The Kings defense has not been able to play as well as they possibly could because of injuries. Drew Doughty, who started the year strong, has been out with injury for most of the season. His injury has caused the defense to have its issues, which are very hard to overcome this far into the season. The only thing that can help is for him to stay healthy. Since he is back as of two weeks ago, they should play a lot better now on the back-end.

Andrei Vasilevskiy (2.17 GAA, .927% save) will take over between the pipes after Brian Elliott had a rough night on Saturday against the Senators. Jonathan Quick (2.04 GAA, .933% save) will be between the pipes most likely for the Kings, but it’s very possible Petersen takes over as well.

Predictions:

Score: 2-1 Lightning
Shots: 24 Lightning/22 Kings

Top Performer: Taylor Raddysh (1G 1A 2P)
Overall Performance: A

Reasoning:

The Lightning are overall better, as they are one of the best teams in the league currently, even with their many injuries. It will be a goalie battle most likely, and if Vasilevskiy keeps playing the way he has, the Lightning should win in this close game. Tampa Bay has one each of the last two meetings with Los Angeles at Amalie Arena, both coming in shootouts.