Be sure to 'like' Hockeybuzz on Facebook!
Highest of highs and lowest of lows. Welcome to the 2015-16 Tampa Bay Lightning season.
Just when it seemed as if the Bolts were back on track towards anything close to their path to the Eastern Conference crown a year ago with a three-game winning streak, things came crashing down with back-to-back losses to the Washington Capitals and New York Islanders over the long weekend.
Now, things appear to be on the uptick again -- even if it’s just a little bit -- as the club prepares for a three-game California tour with tonight’s Honda Center showdown with the Anaheim Ducks.
The best news, of course, comes with the word that Jonathan Drouin appears set to return to the Tampa Bay lineup after missing the last six games with an undisclosed injury. While Drouin’s usage has been hit and miss for the Bolts, it’s clear that his offensive presence is one that the Lightning could certainly use (the team has scored just 22 goals over their last 10 games played).
If he’s a go, he appears set to skate on a new-look Tampa Bay second line featuring Vladislav Namestnikov at center and Nikita Kucherov on the right wing.
With second-line center Tyler Johnson out of action, this second line is perhaps the best the Lightning can do when it comes to designing a non-Stamkos line to feast on slower matchups. It will be interesting to see how Namestnikov, who I thought has been a tremendous fit to Stamkos’ left on the Bolts’ top line in the absence of Drouin, will adjust and contribute with a top-six center role.
Namestnikov shift’s from top-line left-wing to second-line center will bump Alex Killorn up to the Bolts’ first line, while Valtteri Filppula centers it and Stamkos shifts to the right wing.
The Bolts took the previous head-to-head with the Ducks by a 5-0 final at Amalie Arena on Nov. 21.
Jon Cooper is expected to give this start to Ben Bishop. The 6-foot-7 Bishop took the loss behind a 19-of-22 showing against the New York Islanders last Sat., which was a sour note to end an otherwise stellar month of November for Bishop that included four wins and a .941 save percentage in eight starts. The 29-year-old Bishop has straight-up outstanding career figures against the Ducks, too, with five wins, a 1.04 goals against average, and an actually insane .964 save percentage in six games.
The Ducks counter with John Gibson. This will be Gibson’s fourth straight start, and comes on the heels of a 25-save shutout over the Vancouver Canucks on Monday night. The 22-year-old Gibson has two wins and a .936 save percentage in four games for the Ducks this season, and comes into action with four goals against in three home games this season. The Pittsburgh, Penn. native has made one career start against the Bolts, and stopped 28-of-32 shots against in a losing effort in that start.
- TB captain Steven Stamkos has seven goals and 12 points in 12 games against the Ducks.
- Four of Nikita Kucherov’s six goals this year have come on the road.
- Tampa defender Victor Hedman has just one goal and two points in his last 10 games played.
- Anaheim d-man Sami Vatanen has two goals and eight points in his last eight games.
- Ryan Getzlaf has four goals and nine points in 10 career games against Tampa Bay.
Other news and notes
The Bolts are hoping to get both Tyler Johnson and Cedric Paquette back this weekend. And perhaps the best news is that Ondrej Palat has resumed skating with the team, with the next step being taking contact, and then the next step, of course, returning to the lineup.
Nikita Nesterov is back with the big club while Luke Witkowski has been returned to Syracuse.
Former Lightning forward Nate Thompson is expected to make his season debut tonight for Anaheim. He has missed the entire season to date with a shoulder injury, and returns to Anaheim after a two-game conditioning stint with the San Diego Gulls of the American Hockey League.
Ty Anderson has been covering the National Hockey League for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010, has been a member of the Boston Chapter of the Pro Hockey Writers Association since 2013, and can be contacted on Twitter, or emailed at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com.