Back at the Tampa Bay Times Forum after a successful four game Western road swing, the Tampa Bay Lightning are set to take on the Washington Capitals tonight. This is the second of three meetings between the former Southeast Division rivals this season; Washington took the first meeting by a score of 6-5 in the shootout.
The road hasn’t been an overly friendly place to the Lightning over the last couple seasons, but this last trip was a pretty good one. Tampa grabbed three wins in the four games, enough to vault them right up the ladder in the Eastern Conference standings. The Bolts sit only two points behind the division leading Boston Bruins. Even with injuries to Steven Stamkos and (now) Ben Bishop, the Lightning have remained surprisingly competitive. With a record of 7-2-1 in their last ten games, the Lightning are starting to get some league wide attention.
Tonight’s contest gives Marty St. Louis and his Lightning a chance to win their second straight game, having just beaten the Winnipeg Jets by a score of 4-2 on Tuesday. Immediately following his exclusion from Team Canada’s Olympic team, St. Louis went out on the ice and did what he does best. He scored two third period goals and led the Bolts to a huge moral victory. It was a testament to his resolve and his natural abilities. In addition, it displayed why so many people, even those outside Bolts Nation, believe that he should be on Team Canada. Check out the results of this poll I posted right after the snub.
Anders Lindback will get the start in net for the Lightning, with Ben Bishop still on the shelf dealing with an injury. As much as he’s struggled this season, getting him this stretch of games can’t hurt. He bounced back after giving up a shaky goal in Winnipeg and played some fine minutes in the third period. Hopefully he can build on that tonight as he looks to shut down one of the more offensively potent groups in the league. One final injury update: it sounds like JT Brown may not play tonight, as he’s dealing with a shoulder injury.
#tblightning coach Jon Cooper says RW JT Brown might not play tonight (shoulder) and if not will be back on Saturday.
— Nick Williams (@NickWilliamsTBO) January 9, 2014Unlike Tampa Bay, Washington isn’t dealing with any overly significant injuries. That means that Lindback and the Bolts will have to deal with the full cast of characters on the Washington roster. Regardless of what the Capitals’ record is, they have the ability to beat any team on any given night.
Tonight’s game is a big one for the Lightning. It’s important to follow up a successful road trip with a strong performance on home ice. I hope that everyone at the Forum tonight gives Marty St. Louis a huge round of applause when he steps out onto the ice. He deserves it.
As always, thanks for reading.