Fresh off a nice Christmas break, the Tampa Bay Lightning are back in town tonight for a contest with the Montreal Canadiens at the Tampa Bay Times Forum. The game is an important one, as the Bolts and Canadiens are Atlantic Division rivals. Tampa currently sits two points up on Montreal with one game in hand; both teams are in a playoff position as of right now.
When Steven Stamkos went down with a broken leg, critics near and far lamented that the Bolts were poised to tumble right down the standings. That simply hasn’t happened. Buoyed by stellar goaltending, timely offensive contributions from all corners of the roster, and solid team defense, the Lightning sit in second spot in the Atlantic Division. In their final ten games before the break, Tampa rattled off a very impressive 7-1-2 stretch.
Looking to keep that hot streak going, the Lightning will be forced to make some roster changes as a result of injury. With both Sami Salo and Eric Brewer on the shelf, the team called up Syracuse Crunch defenseman Dmitry Korobov. Korobov, who spent a very short time with the Bolts earlier this season, is the kind of player who can be counted on to do a little bit of everything. For an undermanned Bolts squad, he’s a perfect fit.
As tonight’s game is the first of a back-to-back set for the Lightning (the New York Rangers come to town tomorrow), expect that Jon Cooper will split the goaltending duties between Ben Bishop and Anders Lindback. Bishop, who was phenomenal when the Lightning grabbed a 2-1 shootout victory over the Canadiens earlier this season, will get the start tonight. Tonight’s tilt gives him the opportunity to chase his 21st win of the year, and to perhaps make one final impression on Team USA’s brass.
The Canadiens, for their part, head into tonight’s game as a well-rested bunch; they’ve been off since last Saturday. In their final ten games before the break, the Canadiens compiled a record of 6-4-0. Aiming to make a big push for the playoffs, they’ll need to be better than that down the stretch. With Carey Price eyeing Team Canada’s starting job for Sochi, the Canadiens should have a motivated goaltender to lead the way. When on his game, Price is arguably the best in the world.
It’s interesting to compare the statistical performance of the Canadiens and Lightning, specifically on the offensive side of things. The Canadiens, who score an average of 2.47 goals per game, are pretty balanced in terms of point scoring distribution. No single Montreal player is lighting the world on fire, as evidenced by the fact that P.K. Subban, a defenseman, leads the team in scoring with 27 points in 38 games. In contrast, the Lightning’s offense is a lot more concentrated. Fewer sources, but more output.
Consider this: Steven Stamkos, who has been out for well over a month now, had scored 23 points in 17 games to start the season; Montreal’s highest scoring forward is Tomas Plekanec, who has tallied 23 points in 38 games. Pretty incredible.
Montreal makes up for this lack of offensive production in the defensive zone. Whereas the Lightning give up 2.32 goals per game, the Canadiens only dish out 2.13 goals per game. Thanks in large part to the tandem of Price and Peter Budaj, the Canadiens just don’t give opposing teams much to work with. In addition, Montreal also boasts a very strong power-play and an equally strong penalty-kill. Simply put, the Lightning are set to take on a quality hockey club tonight. They’ll need to be ready.
Divisional games are always important. With the Lightning and Canadiens jockeying for position in the standings, tonight’s contest should be a very exciting one. Here’s hoping that the Lightning give the hometown crowd a lot to cheer about and come out with a win.
As always, thanks for reading.