The Tampa Bay Lightning will begin their month of November tonight at home against the New York Rangers for the first matchup between these two teams this season. Puck drop is set for 7:30 PM ET.
The Bolts could not have had a better first month of the season, going 10-2-1 and placing themselves at the top of the National Hockey League standings. Throughout the first 13 games of the season, scoring goals has not been an issue for the Lightning. They have recorded 53 goals as a team while only allowing the opposition to score 36 goals against them.
In Tampa's previous game against the Florida Panthers, the team posted a grand total of eight goals on two netminders. Now, they allowed five goals to the Panthers but you can be sure that coach Jon Cooper stressed tightening up on defense during practice.
Unlike the Lightning, the Rangers had a bumpy first month of the season. New York currently sits in the basement of the Metropolitan Division with a 4-7-2 record. They have struggled to get anything going on the road, going 0-3-0 in games away from Madison Square Garden this season.
Although the Rangers have struggled to start the year, the Lightning would be foolish to underestimate their opponent. Anything can happen on any given night in the NHL and the Bolts would hate to see progress halted due to a loss against a team they should beat.
Projected Lightning Lineup
Forward Lines
Vladislav Namestnikov - Steven Stamkos - Nikita Kucherov
Ondrej Palat - Brayden Point - Yanni Gourde
Alex Killorn - Gabriel Dumont - JT Brown
Chris Kunitz - Tyler Johnson - Ryan Callahan
Defensive Pairings
Victor Hedman - Jake Dotchin
Mikhail Sergachev - Anton Stralman
Braydon Coburn - Dan Girardi
Starting Goaltender
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Projected Rangers Lineup
Forward Lines
Chris Kreider - Mika Zibanejad - Pavel Buchnevich
Rick Nash - Kevin Hayes - Mats Zuccarello
Jimmy Vesey - David Desharnais - J.T. Miller
Michael Grabner - Boo Nieves - Jesper Fast
Defensive Pairings
Ryan McDonagh - Kevin Shattenkirk
Brady Skjei - Steven Kampfer
Marc Staal - Nick Holden
Starting Goaltender
Henrik Lundqvist