After opening their 2014-15 campaign with a four game home stand, the Tampa Bay Lightning are out on the road for a five-game Western swing. It starts tonight with a game against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena.
If you were looking for an adjective to describe the Lightning’s opening home stand, ‘okay’ would probably suffice. It wasn’t bad. It wasn’t great. The wins against Florida and Montreal are complemented by disappointing losses to New Jersey and Ottawa. Nobody is planning a Stanley Cup parade yet, but nobody is close to pushing the panic button either.
Unlike the Bolts, the Canucks head into tonight’s contest boasting a perfect 3-0-0 record. Before you start applauding, just note that their opponents have been Calgary, Edmonton, and… Edmonton. Tampa represents Vancouver’s first playoff-quality opponent. This tweet here sums things up nicely:
Canucks pre-season now over? Real competition begins tomorrow. #albertafeast
— Dan Russell (@DanRussellST) October 18, 2014Specific to this contest, it would appear that the schedule maker has something against the Canucks. Vancouver was in Edmonton on Friday night, and will likely be tired both from their game and the late-night travel. The Bolts, on the other hand, should be well rested after having three full days off from game action.
Regardless of how tired the Canucks may or may not be, they will still pose a challenge to the Lightning. The Sedin twins and Radim Vrbata, in particular, have been causing headaches for opposing defenses since the 2014-15 season started. Vrbata has three goals through three games as a Canuck, and the Sedins look like they did a few years ago. Containing them will be job number one for Victor Hedman and the rest of Tampa’s defense.
Speaking of Tampa’s defense, it’s worth mentioning that the group of six has performed incredibly well to start the year. Allowing only 1.75 goals against per game, the Lightning’s blue line is defending with impressive precision. That Ben Bishop and Evgeni Nabokov have both performed admirably helps, but the defense is now miles ahead of where it was one year ago. The value that Anton Stralman and former Canuck Jason Garrison have brought to the team can’t be understated.
One of the most intriguing storylines heading into tonight’s tilt is how that Lightning defensive group, and specifically the penalty-killing unit, will fare against the Canucks’s red-hot power play. The addition of Vrbata, as mentioned, has done wonders for Vancouver’s offense at the top end. The Lightning’s penalty kill, which is clicking along at 92.3% (!), will be put to the test.
Based on yesterday’s practice, it looks like Jon Cooper will dress a lineup similar to the one that dropped a 2-1 decision to the Devils on Tuesday. Per Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times, the practice lines looked a little something like this:
#tblightning lines: Palat-Stamkos-Callahan/Killorn-Filppula-Johnson/morrow-Boyle-Connolly/Kucherov-Namestnikov-brown
— Joe Smith (@TBTimes_JSmith) October 17, 2014#tblightning d-pairings so far have been Hedman-Stalman, Brewer Sustr, Garrison/Carle-Barberio. Gudas not practicing
— Joe Smith (@TBTimes_JSmith) October 17, 2014One final thing I’ll note before signing off is that tonight’s game marks Brett Connolly’s first in Vancouver. The Times has a nice piece up on his return to his home province.
The bottom line is that this is a big game for the Lightning. Already three points behind the Montreal Canadiens in the Atlantic Division standings, the Bolts must keep pace early in the year. A 3-1-1 start looks a whole lot better than a 2-2-1 start. Here’s hoping the Bolts go out and send the Canucks home with the first loss of the year.
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.