The Lightning will start the week off with a game against Atlantic Division rivals, the Toronto Maple Leafs, who have won four straight games. On Wednesday night, the Evander Kane-less Buffalo Sabres will visit the Lightning with two points on the line. Then on Thursday night the Bolts will be in Dallas to take on the Stars, who are battling for a playoff spot. The Bolts will finish off the week with a game against the Flyers on Saturday afternoon at home.
The Bolts need to come out with some energy in their game against the Leafs on Monday night since the teams are only separated by four points in the standings. The Lightning should try to play with some discipline since their penalty kill has struggled all season. Tampa Bay will need to neutralize the speed of the Maple Leafs especially through the neutral zone to avoid odd man rushes. The Bolts should try to get the forecheck game going often and early since the Leafs do tend to turn the puck over when under pressure. The Lightning will want to keep an eye on Mitch Marner, who has been on absolute fire of late, creating and scoring in the offensive zone because of his speed.
The Maple Leafs need to get the first goal of the game to build momentum and take the home crowd out of the game. The Leafs should have their newest addition, Tomas Plekanec in the lineup tonight so that will add another good two way player to the mix. Toronto needs to play well while on special teams since they allow as much as they score when playing at even strength. The Maple Leafs want to get a good game out of goaltender, Freddie Andersen, who has been very good for most of this season. The Leafs will want to find a way to neutralize Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov since they are the leading point getters on the Lightning.
On Wednesday night, the last place Sabres come to town to take on the Bolts. The Lightning don't want to over look this Sabres team because that could cost them an important two points down the stretch. The Bolts should get the first goal of the game and be sure to put plenty of pressure on the Sabres since they tend to turn the puck over. The Lightning need to stay out of the penalty box even though the Sabres power play isn't one of the best, Tampa Bay's penalty kill is towards the bottom of the NHL.
Buffalo wants to play a solid road game while trying to play the role of spoiler. In order to play spoiler, they will need to make sure that they play solid defense the whole game. The Sabres need to get some good goaltending in this game since the Bolts tend to get their scoring chances. Buffalo should get off to a good start in this game with an early first goal and build their momentum from there. The Sabres need to figure out a way to get their struggling power play going and take advantage of the weak penalty kill of the Bolts.
The Bolts will travel to Dallas on Thursday night to take on the Stars, who are also battling it out for a playoff spot. The Lightning need to get a good game from the goaltender. They'll need to play a solid road game and keep the Stars in check at home, where they have been very good. The Bolts need to win the battle at even strength play since their special teams are only mediocre. Tampa Bay needs to keep an eye on Alexander Radulov and John Klingberg when they are on the ice because they can make it pretty chaotic out there.
The Stars need to get the first goal of the game to keep the home crowd in the game. They will also need to play a good defensive game including the forwards. Dallas will need to get off to a good start, set the tone early in this one and get the first goal of the game. The Stars are going to need to find a way to get their power play going because they have too many good players on it for it to be struggling. The goalie is going to need to have a big game to keep his team in the game.
The Bolts need to play with discipline since their one weakness has been the penalty kill this year. Tampa Bay should get the first goal of the game to keep the home crowd in the game and have the momentum. The Lightning want to win the special teams battle since both teams play a solid even strength game. The Bolts goaltender will need to make some big saves throughout the game and make the easy saves too. Tampa Bay is going to need to find a way to stop the balanced attack of the Flyers by making them defend in their own zone.
The Flyers will need to find a way to stop the balanced attack of the Lightning by spending some time in their offensive zone. The Orange and Black are going to want to play a solid road game and keep the defensive gap pretty small. Philly wants to make sure that they get a ton of traffic in front of the net for deflections and to take the goalie's eyes away from the puck. The Orange and Black want to limit their mistakes and get some solid goaltending.
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