Be sure to 'like' Hockeybuzz on Facebook!
Winners of seven straight, the latest of which a stellar 2-1 statement victory over the Chicago Blackhawks, the Tampa Bay Lightning will take their act to Sunrise, Fla. for yet another installment of the Sunshine State Rivalry between the Bolts and (first place) Florida Panthers.
But the first place Panthers matched the Lightning’s Thursday night with a win over the Blackhawks of their own, a 4-0 shutout over the ‘Hawks last night at BB&T Center.
The big story in Florida’s victory was of course the return of second-year pro Aaron Ekblad.
Ekblad had missed the previous four games with a concussion, all losses for the Atlantic-leading Panthers, but his return meant it was back to winning time for the ‘Cats.
Dating back to Dec. 15, the Panthers have won the last 13 games with Ekblad in the lineup.
That does not even include the prior three head-to-heads between the Panthers and Lightning this year, which have come with two wins for Florida, on a home-and-home that came with two one-goal wins. But those defeats came with the Bolts at their absolute worst, really. And things, well, they’ve changed.
With a win tonight, the Lightning could move within one point of Florida for first place in the division.
In net, the 6-foot-7 Ben Bishop gets the call for Tampa. The 29-year-old has won four games in a row -- and has stopped all but four of 92 shots against (a .957 save percentage) -- and comes into action on the heels of Thursday’s 17-of-18 victory over Chicago. Bishop has had massive success against the Panthers in his career, too, with seven wins and a .918 save percentage in nine games.
Florida counters with Roberto Luongo. Like he has been all year, Luongo was once again stellar in his last start, a Friday night 27-save shutout over Chicago. The 35-year-old has been great throughout January, too, with four wins and a .942 save percentage in seven games this month. Luongo enters play with 15 wins and a .920 save percentage in 34 career games against Tampa Bay.
Jonathan Marchessault and Matt Carle are the likely scratches for the Lightning.
Captain Willie Mitchell (undisclosed) is still on injured reserve and not activated just yet.
The ‘Cats have also reassigned Dylan Olsen to the American Hockey League.
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.