The Tampa Bay Lightning are in Columbus tonight for a matchup with the severely undermanned Blue Jackets. A team that many thought would contend for a playoff spot, the Blue Jackets currently sit only one point up on the Buffalo Sabres. It’s still early in the year, but the race for Connor McDavid appears to have an unexpected entrant.
What does all that mean for the Bolts, who are fresh off a perfect four game home stand? It means that they have a great shot to win their fifth game in a row. Like the Lightning, the Blue Jackets are dealing with some devastating injuries; the list of the fallen includes Sergei Bobrovsky, Brandon Dubinsky, and Nathan Horton, among others. It makes the Blue Jackets susceptible to losses. That plus the fact that their confidence must be at a very low point right now spells good news for the team that calls Florida home.
With Bobrovsky injured, Columbus will turn to 21-year-old Anton Forsberg in net. The 2011 7th rounder has only played one game in the NHL, which took place exactly one week ago. He lost that matchup to the New Jersey Devils, as he allowed three goals on 29 shots. One game does not a career make, but there is certainly an aura of vulnerability in the Columbus crease tonight.
On the Lightning side of things, Evgeni Nabokov will get the start tonight. He hasn’t played since that dreadful outing in Minnesota on October 25th. While that game is freshest in the minds of fans, it’s important to remember that Nabokov was very solid in his first two games as a Bolt. As Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times points out, Nabokov has had a lot of success in his career against Columbus:
FWIW Nabokov is 20-5-3 with a 1.79 goals against average in 29 career starts vs #bluejackets
— Joe Smith (@TBTimes_JSmith) November 8, 2014Aside from Nabokov, Jon Cooper must be hoping that his top line can get things going against what can only be considered an inferior opponent. Steven Stamkos, in particular, has been very streaky to start the year. Nobody is particularly worried, but it would be nice to see his line dominate and score with more regularity.
Thankfully, even without Stamkos’s line going, the Lightning have a number of potent offensive weapons that have had no trouble getting the job done. The trio of Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat, and Nikita Kucherov, in particular, has been stunningly good. All three young players are contributing and controlling play. That line has been the team’s real top line over the last handful of games.
This is the first game in a back-to-back set for the Lightning, who will be in Detroit for a date with the Red Wings tomorrow. While it might be easy to look past the Blue Jackets and focus on Sunday’s divisional game, the Lightning simply cannot do that. While the Blue Jackets do look beatable, the Bolts will only win if they go out and get the job done. Nothing is given in the National Hockey League; Tampa has to go out and take it.
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.