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Stamkos-less Lightning in Montreal for Contest with Canadiens |
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The Tampa Bay Lightning (12-5-0) are set to begin life without Steven Stamkos, who was severely injured in Monday’s 3-0 loss in Boston, for the first time since his 2008-09 debut. The Bolts are in Montreal tonight for their first contest of the year against one of their Atlantic Division rivals, the Canadiens (9-8-1).
Recent history between the Lightning and Canadiens hasn’t been overly kind to the guys from Florida. The Bolts went 0-2-1 against the Canadiens last season, and haven’t won a game at the Bell Centre since October 13, 2010. Without Stamkos in the lineup, tonight’s task is certainly a big one for the road team.
In response to the Stamkos injury, the Lightning announced earlier today that they have recalled forward JT Brown from the Syracuse Crunch. Brown, who signed with the Lightning on March 28, 2012, has played very well with the Crunch and is definitely deserving of this promotion. While he won’t be able to replace Stamkos individually, he will add some offensive depth to the Lightning’s forward lines.
In addition to Brown, the Lightning also announced that Dmitry Korobov has been recalled from Syracuse. His recall comes following the unfortunate news that neither Sami Salo nor Keith Aulie will be ready to go tonight after sustaining short-term injuries in last night’s contest.
With so many injuries to deal with, the Lightning will need to come together as a team like never before. Every individual player needs to step up and do something to make up for the big voids that will be left by Stamkos, Salo, and Aulie. The 2013-14 Lightning roster is laden with quality individuals who want nothing more than to win for their injured teammates.
The Lightning's expected lineup is as follows:
Killorn-Connolly-St. Louis
Purcell-Filppula-Brown
Palat-Johnson-Panik
Malone-Thompson-Crombeen
Hedman-Sustr
Carle-Gudas
Barberio-Brewer
Bishop
Lindback
The Canadiens, for their part, head into tonight’s contest as a relatively healthy team looking for a second straight win. Prior to their 4-2 win over the New York Islanders on Sunday, however, the Canadiens had lost four straight contests. Even so, it’s always foolish to count the Canadiens out. With some of the game’s greatest young players, including Alex Galchenyuk, Lars Eller, Brendan Gallagher, and P.K. Subban, playing in front of Carey Price on a nightly basis, the Canadiens have the ability to compete in every game.
Ben Bishop will start in net for the Lightning after Anders Lindback took the loss in Boston yesterday. Bishop has compiled an impressive 11-2-0 record this season to go along with a 2.12 goals-against average and 0.927 save percentage. His stellar play has led many to believe he could find himself in the Olympic conversation come February. Without Stamkos’ explosive offensive skills in the lineup, Bishop will need to be even better than usual to keep the Lightning in games.
Tonight’s game is a big one for the Lightning in so many ways. First of all, two points are up for grabs. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, it will be interesting to see how the team responds to losing one of the best players in the game. The Lightning team that hits the ice tonight will be a different Lightning team than we’ve seen in a long time.
As always, thanks for reading.
*Steven Stamkos underwent successful surgery this morning.
Ottawa Senators Blogger • 
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