Looking to head into the Olympic break on a good note, the Tampa Bay Lightning will take to the ice tonight at the Tampa Bay Times Forum for a contest with the Detroit Red Wings. Tampa has lost four of its last five contests, including a very disappointing 4-1 defeat at the hands of the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday. Tonight’s game, against a division foe, gives the Bolts a chance to pick up two very important points in the standings. Once free and clear of the pack, the Lightning have fallen right back down and are now truly in the middle of a very close playoff race.
The fact that Tampa lost to the Maple Leafs on Thursday was disappointing for more than one reason. Losses are never fun to deal with, but they become even more difficult to handle when key players are lost to injury. Already without Steven Stamkos, the Bolts lost Valtteri Filppula and Ben Bishop in that game. Not many teams have had to deal with injuries to so many key players at once this season, but that’s been the tale of the tape for the Lightning over the last couple of weeks.
As both Bishop and Filppula (who will also miss the Sochi games) will be unavailable for the Lightning this evening, the organization announced yesterday that it has recalled forward Vladislav Namestnikov and goaltender Kristers Gudlevskis from the Syracuse Crunch.
Based on the line combinations at yesterday’s team practice, there has been some speculation that Namestnikov will center a line between Nikita Kucherov and JT Brown. For those of you who don’t follow the Syracuse Crunch closely, that trio has built a tremendous amount of chemistry in the Lightning’s farm system. Even without Kucherov and Brown, who have both been up with the Lightning for the last while, Namestnikov has produced nicely in the American League; he has tallied 30 points in 31 games.
Regarding the other recalled player, it’s hard to imagine that Jon Cooper will go with Gudlevskis over the more proven hand of Cedrick Desjardins. It’s easy to make the argument that neither one gives the team a better chance to win over the other, but at least Desjardins has a little bit of NHL experience. Throwing Gudlevskis in net to tend goal behind a team that is decimated with key injuries would be throwing him to the wolves. With all that said, nothing has been announced as of writing time; I personally wouldn’t be opposed to seeing Gudlevskis get the start, as mentioned the last time he was recalled.
I’ve already mentioned that the Eastern Conference playoff race is heating up. Among the middle four teams in the Atlantic Division, especially, things are incredibly tight. The Detroit Red Wings currently occupy the second Eastern wildcard spot with 64 points, while the Lightning sit second in the division with 69 points. Both the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs are sandwiched in between with 68 points each. Look no further than those numbers if you’re wondering why tonight’s game is an important one for both clubs.
If there is one thing the Lightning have going for them heading into this game with the Wings, it’s that recent history between the two clubs has been very friendly to the team from Florida. In three games since becoming division rivals, the Bolts are 3-0-0 against Mike Babcock’s squad. It should be noted, however, that the perfect record doesn’t tell the full story. The Lightning have needed extra time in two of the three wins.
One final note I’ll make before signing off is that Ondrej Palat continues to make every NHL scout look silly. With 10 points in his last eight games, January’s Rookie of the Month now sits third overall in league scoring among rookies. His linemate, Tyler Johnson, sits second on that list. I’ve mentioned it before, but I’ll mention it again. The fact that Palat made it all the way down to the 7th round is stunning.
With Sochi just on the horizon, it would be really nice if the Lightning could earn a win tonight against the Wings. This team needs something positive to take into the break. If memory serves me right, our resident friend Arty will be in attendance. Hopefully the Bolts send him home happy.
As always, thanks for reading.