Following their disappointing 5-2 loss on Tuesday night in Los Angeles, the Tampa Bay Lightning (14-7-0) will get a shot at redemption tonight as they enter the SAP Center for a tilt with the San Jose Sharks (13-3-5). Tonight’s game affords the Bolts an opportunity to rebound from their first two game losing streak of the 2013-14 campaign.
The Lightning’s Western road swing has not been a successful one by any stretch of the imagination. Following a 6-3 drubbing in Phoenix, the Bolts laid an egg in Los Angeles and walked out with their heads hung in shame. Things won’t get any easier tonight, as the Sharks’ SAP Center is one of the most difficult places to play in the entire National Hockey League. The Sharks have only lost one game in regulation on home ice this year.
When NHL General Managers sit at home and dream about the ‘perfect roster,’ the Sharks’ lineup probably comes to mind. Few teams in the league can match the Sharks’ depth and strength at all positions. With Joe Thornton centering their first line, Logan Couture centering their second line, and Joe Pavelski centering their third line, the Sharks are in a most enviable position. Combine that with a strong, sturdy defense and the reliable goaltending on Antti Niemi, and it’s hard to argue that the Sharks aren’t a Stanley Cup contender. With that in mind, it’s clear that the Lightning’s task tonight is a big one.
While the Lightning could certainly use Steven Stamkos tonight, they will be without his services as he continues to recover from a broken tibia. If nothing else, that means that other Lightning offensive players will need to step up. Valtteri Filppula, Martin St. Louis, Teddy Purcell, and Alex Killorn, in particular, will need to lead the way. Even without 91, this Lightning team still has the ability to put the puck in the net with regularity. To do that, however, they’ll need to be a whole lot better than they were in both Phoenix and Los Angeles.
In an attempt to wake up his troops, Jon Cooper made some line changes at practice yesterday. Brett Connolly, who had been centering a line with Killorn and St. Louis, was relegated to alternate fourth line duty. The practice forward lineup looked like this:
Purcell-Filppula-St. Louis Malone-Killorn-Brown Palat-Johnson-Panik Labrie-Thompson-Crombeen (Connolly)
Erik Erlendsson is reporting today that PC Labrie will be scratched tonight, indicating that Connolly will most likely draw in on the fourth line. In addition, Andrej Sustr will remain in the press box while Mark Barberio slots back into the lineup. The Lightning sent Dmitry Korobov back to Syracuse yesterday.
Perhaps the biggest change to the Lightning’s lineup is fact that Anders Lindback will start in net. Ben Bishop has looked visibly shaky during his last two starts, so this move shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. For Lindback, tonight’s game is a big opportunity. A strong performance from the lanky goaltender could equal more starts for him moving forward. You can bet that he’s anxious to get into the action and prove that he can be a number one goaltender in the NHL.
Tonight’s game is another late one. Hopefully the Lightning give everyone a good reason to stay up.
As always, thanks for reading.