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Game 25 Preview: Lightning vs. Canadiens |
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The Tampa Bay Lightning begin the second half of their 2013 schedule tonight with a contest against the Montreal Canadiens. Tonight marks the end of a two game mini-home stand that has already seen the Bolts suffer a loss at the hand of the Winnipeg Jets. With only 24 games left this season, it’s time for the Lightning to put up, or shut up. Currently they sit 13th in the East, five points out of eighth place and six points out of the Southeast Division’s top spot. While those numbers certainly indicate that the Lightning have got a fight ahead of them, they also suggest that there’s not an insurmountable hurdle separating the Bolts from playoff hockey quite yet.
The Lightning and Canadiens have already met once this season, with the Canadiens winning 4-3 in the shootout. However, the score itself doesn’t tell the full story. The Canadiens jumped out to a 3-0 lead before the ever-so-resilient Lightning battled back with three late third period goals. Despite eventually losing in the shootout, the Bolts showed a whole lot of courage, a whole lot of passion, and a whole lot of battle to get back in that game.
That was then, this is now. The Montreal Canadiens are the cream of the crop in the Eastern Conference, while the Lightning’s record has them looking at an incredibly attractive lottery pick. That being said, recent days haven’t been overly friendly to the Canadiens. They’ve been alternating wins and losses, allowing an unusually high number of goals, and struggling to maintain their hold on the Northeast Division lead. Simply put – if there was ever a time to take on the Montreal Canadiens this season, it’s right now.
Of course, none of that means that the Lightning are going to have an easy time this evening. With experienced offensive stars like Max Pacioretty, Andrei Markov, Tomas Plekanec, and PK Subban, the Habs always pose a daunting challenge. Combine those gentlemen with stellar rookies like Brendan Gallagher and Alex Galchenyuk, and it becomes pretty easy to see why the Canadiens have had such a great turnaround this year. Backed by solid goaltending from Carey Price and a new organizational culture, this Canadiens team is the real deal.
With all that said, it’s painfully obvious that the Lightning are going to need to bring their A-game to the Tampa Bay Times Forum this evening. Thankfully, the Bolts have actually played reasonably well in recent days. Small mistakes and silly gaffes have been all that has gone wrong for the Bolts in their last few games. Other than those errors, the team has been playing hard, doing the right things, and producing offensive chances. Realistically, for them to beat the Canadiens tonight, the Lightning are going to need to eliminate those errors, and play a relatively mistake free game.
The big news out of Lightning HQ is that Cedrick Desjardins will make his third career start tonight, against his former organization. After putting up 2 wins with the Lightning just a few seasons ago, Desjardins has not seen NHL action. With Mathieu Garon injured, he will get his chance this evening. With Steven Stamkos lighting the league on fire, Martin St. Louis doing everything he always does, Vincent Lecavalier dominating the faceoff circle, and a seemingly healthy defense core, the Lightning just need Desjardins to put up a solid performance in order to have a shot at victory. Nobody is asking for heroics; just be solid, Ced.
It’s always a treat whenever the Lightning and Canadiens get together; tonight shouldn’t be an exception. The Tampa Bay Times Forum will be full, fans will be excited, and you can bet that there will be a large contingent of folks cheering for each side. The atmosphere whenever these groups play each other is always fun. As such, enjoy it!
Thanks for reading. Predictions?