The Bolts will look to use the home crowd to is advantage this week. They'll take on the Washington Capitals, Pittsburgh Penguins and St. Louis Blues.
The Lightning will try to slow down the red hot Alex Ovechkin, who has seven goals in two games to start the season. Evgeny Kuznetsov has assisted on all seven of Ovechkin's goals, so Tampa Bay is going to need to keep a close eye on the duo. They'll need to get traffic in front of the net because if a goalie can't see a puck then he can't stop it. They need to be better defensively, avoid sloppy play in their own end and not cough up the lead, if they get it. The Bolts need to get the lead, establish a forecheck and spend as much time as they can in the offensive zone since that's the best way to slow down the Caps offense. The goalie, whether it be Andrei Vasilevskiy or Peter Budaj, needs to steal this game. Tampa Bay is also going to want to keep an eye on Nicklas Backstroke and T.J.Oshie since they both have decent career numbers against the Lightning.
The Caps need to bring its balanced attack and have all four lines and the defense involved in the game. They'll need to stay out of the penalty box since the Bolts have a pretty decent power play. The top line of Vladislav Namestnikov-Steven Stamkos-Nikita Kucherov has been off to a good start for the Bolts so the Capitals need to keep them in-check. Washington will also need to have a solid road effort and keep the mistakes to a minimum.
On Thursday night, the defending Stanley Cup Champions, Pittsburgh Penguins visit the Bolts. Tampa Bay needs to stay out of the penalty box and play a discipline game since the Pens have a really good power play. The Lightning need to get plenty of shots on goal and just attack the Penguins since they have struggled to start the season. The Bolts should try to establish an early forechecking game and cycling game to spend as much time as they can in the offensive zone. Tampa Bay needs to get the defensive involved in the offense and keep the top six of the Penguins off the scoreboard. The Lightning will also need to keep an eye on Kris Letang since he has good career numbers again them and likes to join the play in the offensive zone.
The Penguins haven't had the best start to its season and have given up 15 goals against in three games. Pittsburgh needs to get shots on goal, and make Vasilevskiy or Budaj work since either have particularly good career numbers in limited time against the. They'll want to attack the defense and keep attacking since the Bolts are having some defensive problems early in the year. The Penguins need to get its big guns going like Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel. If the Pens can have a solid road effort and limits its mistakes then they'll have a chance on stealing a win on the road.
The week ends with a visit from the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night. The Bolts are going to have to watch the Blues' defensemen since they have contributed to the offense early on. Tampa Bay will need to keep the top six forwards to a minimum amount of damage. The team will also need to get a ton of traffic in front of Jake Allen or Carter Hutton. The Bolts need to keep the turnovers to a minimum and not make this game as wide open as a game of pond hockey.
The Blues will need to keep an eye on Brayden Point, who has five points in two games. St. Louis should try to establish a good forechecking and cycling game from the start of the game. The Blues will also want to pressure the Lightning puck carrier to force some turnovers. The Blues will need to stay out of the penalty box since they've had a rough go of it on the penalty kill. St. Louis has given up some goals and chances in the third period through two games and they need to be better defensively in the final period.
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