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There’s significant importance in winning any divisional game this time of year.
But when you barely beat a bad Arizona Coyotes group, and have lost to playoff caliber opponents with the frequency the Tampa Bay Lightning have of late, a strong showing against a team chasing you in the standings and in desperation mode like the Detroit Red Wings, it’s a damn near must win.
On the heels of a 2-0 victory over the ‘Yotes last Saturday night, the Bolts are mercifully back at Amalie Arena after a four-game road swing that came with just two wins in four games (three of which against bottom of the barrel teams), including one absolutely embarrassing 4-1 loss to the NHL-worst Toronto Maple Leafs, a place where they’ve gone 24-of-35 this season.
Currently holding a four-point edge on the Red Wings, who occupy the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference, a win in their season-series finale with Detroit would by all means assure the Lightning of remaining within the Atlantic Division's top three. An obvious plus for a Lightning team that’s gone through the ebbs and flows of being a dominant-yet-inconsistent group like no other.
But it’ll have to be done without two of the club’s veteran presences up front yet again, as Valtteri Filppula and Ryan Callahan (who has missed one game) remain out of action.
With Callahan out, Jonathan Marchessault -- who has undoubtedly played more of an in-your-face, pest-esque game of late -- will once again skate with Ondrej Palat and Tyler Johnson.
Ben Bishop gets the start on the net after an impressive 32-save shutout over the Coyotes in his last start. Bishop, a likely Vezina finalist, has four wins and a .945 save percentage in seven starts this month, and comes into action with 15 wins and a .922 save percentage in 28 home games this year.
Detroit will counter with Jimmy Howard. Leaned on for the last two games, both wins for Detroit, Howard comes into tonight’s tilt following a 23-of-26 win over the first-place Florida Panthers, and an impressive 27-of-28 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Mar. 17. Overall, the 31-year-old has an impressive five wins and .936 save percentage in nine career games against the Lightning.
The Red Wings have not won in Tampa since Feb. 17, 2011.
This is the start of a crucial six-game homestand for the Bolts that does not get any easier after tonight (quite literally), with the Islanders and Panthers coming to town for a back-to-back this weekend.
Ty Anderson has been covering the National Hockey League for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010, has been a member of the Pro Hockey Writers Association's Boston Chapter since 2013, and can be contacted on Twitter, or emailed at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com.