Lightning Strikes: Weekly Preview 11/5/17-11/11/17

The Tampa Bay Lightning look to continue their hot start to the season. It won't be an easy task this week as they take on the San Jose Sharks and Los Angeles Kings.

They will face the Sharks on Wednesday night and then the Kings on Thursday night. The Sharks are third in the Pacific Division, while the Kings are first in the Pacific Division. The Lightning could very well come out of this back-to-back situation with anywhere from zero points to four points.

The Bolts need to get off to a good start on Wednesday night to get the first goal of the game since the Sharks are only 2-3-0 when the opposition scores first. Tampa Bay needs to have a balanced lineup with everyone contributing like it has all season. If the Lightning should get down then they need to keep fighting since they haven't had any problems scoring goals. If the Bolts get the lead, then they need to be aggressive, and not sit back since they have blown some multiple goal leads this year. Tampa Bay needs to find a way to stop Logan Couture and know where defenseman Brent Burns is when he is on the ice, since Burns can act like a fourth forward when he is on the ice.

The Sharks will need to get the first goal since they are 6-2-0 when getting the first goal of the game, and only 2-3-0 when the opposition gets the first goal of the game. San Jose needs to get the defense involved in the offense. The Sharks have good special teams and will need to continue that trend, and maybe even avoid the penalty box all together. San Jose will need to get traffic in front of net to get deflections and take the goalies eyes off the puck. Good luck to the Sharks in trying to stop Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos because they will need it.

Tampa Bay will face the LA Kings on Friday night, and it won't be an easy game especially with the start that the Kings are off to. The Bolts will need to get the first goal of the game, and be sure to have plenty of traffic in front of the goaltender. Tampa Bay will need to keep an eye on Anze Kopitar when he is on the ice because he leads the teams with 17 points. The Lightning will want to be tight defensively, and avoid the turnovers.

The Kings will need to get the first goal of the game to keep the home crowd in the game. They will need to get traffic in front of the net for deflections and rebound chances. Los Angeles also need to be aware of where the Tampa Bay defensemen are on the ice because they will join the play in the offensive zone. The Kings need to be aware of the use of the stretch pass by the Bolts to break out of their own zone. Los Angeles needs to stay out of the penalty box, even though they have a good penalty kill, since the Lightning have a really good power play.