The Tampa Bay Lightning are set to play what is almost certainly the most important game of their season. Game Four of their Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series with the Detroit Red Wings gets underway tonight at Joe Louis Arena. A win would even the series at two, while a loss would put the Bolts down 3-1. This is a truly momentous contest.
If they are going to knot the series up at two wins each, the Lightning will have to get back to playing their game. Following a dominant performance in Game One of the series, Tampa’s play has slipped dramatically. Per Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter), Tyler Johnson noted that his group “didn’t play [their] game at all… in Game Three specifically, and that they have to “focus on [themselves]… moving forward.
The question now is whether or not it will take a lineup change or two to get the Bolts back to playing their game. While the general consensus in Lightning-land yesterday was that Jon Cooper would ice the same lineup that was thumped in Game Three, the coach opened the door to potential changes today. Nothing has been confirmed, but Jason Garrison is being described as a game-time decision; Jonathan Drouin, the rookie forward who has been on popcorn duty through three games, could slot into the lineup as well. We’ll have a better idea of what’s coming as puck drop approaches, but Sportsnet’s Dan Murphy isn’t expecting much in the way of changes:
don't expect any changes for #wings or #bolts for game 4 in Detroit. oh, and by the way, Charles Barkley is a @CoopersLaw fan and vice versa
— Dan Murphy (@sportsnetmurph) April 23, 2015Jonathan Drouin appears as if he will at least take warmups, unclear at this point if he will be in the lineup for Game 4 for #TBLightning
— Erik Erlendsson (@erlendssonTBO) April 23, 2015Assuming the Red Wings go with what worked for them in Game Three, Tampa’s defense is in for another challenging night. The return of Justin Abdelkader caused all sorts of problems for the Lightning, and not only because he’s a talented player in his own right. Abdelkader’s presence allows Detroit head coach Mike Babcock to split up Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk, which makes defending against this Red Wings team a nightmare. Datsyuk has been fantastic all series long, and will look to keep that going tonight.
In conclusion, I don’t think it’s a reach to suggest that the winner of tonight’s game will be the winner of the series when all is said and done. A Tampa win would put the ball back in the Lightning’s court, as they would regain home-ice advantage in what would be a best of three series. A Detroit win, on the other hand, would create an Everest-like obstacle for the Bolts to climb. The importance of this game can’t be understated.
As always, thanks for reading.
Michael Stuart has been the Tampa Bay Lightning writer for HockeyBuzz since 2012. Visit his archive to read more or follow him on Twitter.