Lightning Strikes: Weekly Preview 3/11/18-3/17/18

The Tampa Bay Lightning will play only two games this week, but those games are against Atlantic Division opponents so there are some important points up for grabs. The Bolts will also have the advantage of playing in front of the home crowd for both games.

On Tuesday night, an underachieving Ottawa Senators team visits Amalie Arena. The red hot Boston Bruins will then come to town for an all important game on Saturday night. The Sens will be look to play the role of spoiler, while the Bruins will be trying their best to gain ground on the Lightning and put some distance between them and the Leafs.

The Bolts should get off to a fast start against an Ottawa team that has been outscored by 10 goals in the first periods of games this season. They will want to set the tone early and be ready to play early in this one. Tampa Bay needs to not play down to their opponent and look ahead to the Bruins game because that could cost them two valuable points in the standings. The Lightning want to get plenty of pucks on net with traffic in front since the Sens goalies have been anything but solid this year. The Bolts should have an easy time winning the special teams battle even though the penalty kill has been an area of concern all season long.

The Senators are going to want to figure out a way to stop the balanced lineup of the Bolts. They have four lines that can beat you at any given time during a game. Ottawa needs to play solid team defense, have the forwards help out and the goalie make some saves. The Sens want to take away the time and space of the Lightning so they can't create in the offensive zone. The Senators needs to play with discipline since the Lightning have one of the best power play units in the League. Ottawa needs the goaltending to come up big for them in order to steal two points in this game.

The Lightning will have three days off before they face the Bruins in a huge divisional game at home. The Bolts want to be involved from the drop of the puck since they will have had three days without seeing any game action. Tampa Bay should get the forecheck and cycle games going early and often in this game to keep the Bruins busy defending. The Lightning need to get plenty of traffic in front of the net and shots on goal. The Bolts should limit their mistakes and turnovers because the Bruins can and will take advantage of sloppy play. Andrei Vasilevskiy will likely be the starter and he needs to play at the Vezina level that he has been playing at all year for the Lightning to have a shot at this game.

The Bruins have been red hot lately, and the loss of Patrice Bergeron hasn't seemed to affect them. Boston needs to get off to a fast start and be engaged from the drop of the puck since the Lightning will have had three days off. The Bruins will want to get plenty of traffic and screens in front of the net because if Vasilevskiy can see the puck then he is going to stop it. The team may also want to try elevating the net since the Bolts goalie can cover the bottom portion of the net well. Boston needs to get a good game from their starting goalie. The Bruins should try to have the lead when entering the final period of play since they are 28-0-2 when leading after two periods.