The Carolina Hurricanes are in town tonight for what is the Tampa Bay Lightning’s penultimate game before the Christmas break. Earlier this season when the former Southeast Division foes met, it was the Bolts who walked away from the PNC Arena with a convincing 3-0 victory. That recent history should bode well for the Lightning, as they look to win their fourth straight game.
While Tampa Bay has steadily climbed up the Eastern Conference standings with Steven Stamkos on the shelf, Carolina has been mired in a state of mediocrity. In their last 10 games, the Hurricanes have compiled a record of 4-4-2. That stretch is really a microcosm of their season, as evidenced by their overall 14-14-7 record. Even so, today’s Eastern Conference rewards mediocrity. The Hurricanes find themselves just one point out of the Metropolitan Division’s top three. With a victory this evening and a little help on the out-of-town scoreboard, the ‘Canes could find themselves in a playoff spot later tonight. It's not hard to see the Western Conference tears from here.
The Lightning, for their part, will look to build on their very impressive 13-3-1 home record. Head coach Jon Cooper has spoken at length about his desire to make the Tampa Bay Times Forum a difficult place to play for opposing teams. While the aforementioned record (read: numbers in general) doesn’t necessarily tell the whole story, it does prove that the Lightning have made a trip to Florida less of a vacation for fellow National Hockey League clubs. Very few teams have left the Forum happy this year, and that's just fantastic.
In the good news department, Tom Pyatt has been activated off the injured reserve list. He is slated to play tonight, with Mark Barberio, BJ Crombeen, and PC Labrie all set to be scratched per Erik Erlendsson. Ben Bishop, who has shut out the Hurricanes twice since joining the Lightning, will get the start in net.
All in all, today’s game is a big one for the Lightning as they aim to keep pace in the Atlantic Division playoff race. It should be a good tilt. I’m in transit right now, but I’m hoping to be back in time to get a post-game recap done and posted.
As always, thanks for reading.