Lightning Strikes: Four Games in Seven Days

The Tampa Bay Lightning is looking to extend its lead in lead in the Atlantic Division, but it won't be an easy road ahead. The Bolts face the Florida Panthers on the road on Sunday night. The next three games are at home against the Calgary Flames, Dallas Stars and Montreal Canadiens.

1.) Sunday, Feb. 10 @ Panthers- 6 p.m.

The Lightning will take on the Panthers, who are looking to get back into the playoff positioning. This will be a game that features the first and third ranked power plays in the League. The Bolts have outscored the Panthers 14-8 in three game played this season and are 3-0-0 against them.

The Lightning Win If...

They play a solid even strength game and manage to stay out of the penalty box. The Panthers have allowed 125 even strength goals against this season, but have one of the best power plays in the League. The Lightning do have the second best penalty kill in the League, but they are only killing 80% of penalties taken on the road. The Bolts have played a solid even strength game all season and have outscored the opposition by 25 goals while playing 5-on-5.

Matchup of the Game

It will be interesting to watch the Panthers power play go up against the Lightning penalty kill. The Panthers power play is third in the NHL, which ranked them third in the NHL at 27%. The home power play is actually better at 28%. The Lightning penalty kill has improved immensely and is now second in the League (84.7%), but the penalty kill is not as good on the road (80%) as it is on home ice (89.5%). 

Game Prediction

The Lightning will win this game 2-1, which means the goalies are going to make some saves. It is an  important game for both team with the Lightning wanting to build on their Atlantic Division lead, while the Panthers are fighting to get back into a playoff spot. The Bolts goals will come from J.T Miller and Brayden Point with the Panthers lone goal being scored by Vincent Trocheck.

2.) Tuesday, Feb. 12 vs. Flames- 7:30 p.m.-ESPN+

The Bolts take on the Flames, who bring plenty of speed to this game. In the only game against this season, the Lightning managed to pull out the win in the shootout. These two teams each have the speed, talent and can put the puck in the net so this should be a fast-paced hockey game with some goals scored. 

The Lightning Will Win If...

They can manage to slow down the Flames' top line of Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan and Elias Lindholm. The line has combined for 199 points so far this season. The line has a combination of speed, playing and finishing ability. The Lightning need to establish a good forecheck early in this game, get plenty of shots on net and make the Flames defend in their own zone. The Bolts should also try to limit their mistakes especially in the neutral zone with the Flames transition speed.

Matchup of the Game

The teams are very close in style, but the main difference has been the goaltending. Andrei Vasilevskiy and Louis Domingue have done a great job in stopping the puck for the Lightning this season. The goaltending duo of Mike Smith and David Rittich has had its problems this season. The goaltending has improved since Rittich has taken over the starting job, but they are still letting in soft goals. If the Flames want to win this game then the goalie needs to make the routine stops.

Game Prediction

The Flames will tie the game late in regulation to force overtime. The Lightning will lose 4-3 in the extra session. The Flames goals will be scored by Johnny Gaudreau, Elias Lindholm,  Sam Bennett and James Neal. The Bolts goals will go to Yanni Gourde, Mathieu Joseph and Steven Stamkos. 

3.) Thursday, Feb. 14 vs Stars- 7:30 p.m.-ESPN +

The Stars have been one of the more inconsistent teams because they lack a balanced lineup. The Stars are basically a one line team with the other three lines pitching in once every few games or so. The Lightning can't overlook this team or they will not get two points out of a very winnable game. The Bolts beat the Stars 2-0 earlier in the season on the road. 

The Lightning Will Win If...

The team gets off to a fast start and continues it throughout the game. The Stars have been outscored big time by the opposition in the first periods of games. It is almost like the Stars aren't ready for the start of the game, but get better as the game goes on. The Bolts have outscored the opposition in the first period but by less than 10 goals, so they want to improve on their starts.

Matchup of the Game

Tyler Seguin has been everything for the Stars this season after signing his contract in the offseason. He doesn't have as many points as the team would like, but he has really picked up his play of late. He leads the team in goals (22), assists (29) and points (51). Nikita Kucherov got off to a slower than usual start, but that hasn't affected his play this season. He leads the team in assists (59) and points (81) with Brayden Point, who just happens to be Kucherov's centerman, leading the team in goals (31). These two players have the potential to do some damage in the game.

Game Prediction

The Lightning manage to win this one because of its depth scoring by a score of 3-1. They'll get a late empty net goal to seal the win. The one Stars goal will be scored by Tyler Seguin with Alexander Radulov adding a primary assist. The three Lightning goals will come from Alex Killorn, Tyler Johnson and Brayden Point.

4.) Saturday, Feb. 16 vs. Canadiens- 7 p.m.- NHLN

The Montreal Canadiens have been on of the surprise teams in the NHL this season. They have three lines that have the potential to score and have gotten decent goaltending. The power play has probably been one of the down falls on this team and it is ranked 30th in the League (13.5%). This should be a good fast paced game that may very need overtime to decide the game.

The Lightning Will Win If...

They get plenty of pucks on net with traffic in front of the opposing goalie. The Lightning should want to take away the goalie's eyes especially if Carey Price is in net for the Canadiens. The Bolts should play with their speed to try to get to loose pucks and then make sure that they establish a forecheck early in the game. 

Matchup of the Game

One of the goaltenders if going to steal this game for his team especially if the starters are Carey Price and Andrei Vasilevskiy. These goalies can make the routine save and make highlight reel saves. Price has been playing well of late and Vasilevskiy has been playing decent since coming back from his broken foot. The teams are going to have to get the goalies moving from post to post and get plenty of traffic in front for deflections.

Game Prediction

The Habs are going to get some revenge for the two earlier loses to the Bolts this season by winning 3-2 in overtime. The two games have seen the two teams combine for 16 goals. The Lightning have 10 goals in the season series while the Canadiens have scored six times. The Canadiens goals will come from Max Domi, Tomas Tatar and Brendan Gallagher. The Lightning goal scorers are Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov. 

Lightning Strikes Weekly Prediction

The Lightning will finish a tough week with a 2-0-2 record and grab six points in the standings. 

Preds Prey: Road Bumps & a Home Game

The Nashville Predators look to break their six game losing streak and get some points while playing three of four games on the road.

The Predators get off to an early start this week with a matinee game against the Washington Capitals on New Years Eve. They will then round out the week with a home game against the Philadelphia Flyers, followed by two road games, one against the Detroit Red Wings and another in Montreal to take on the Canadiens.

Monday, Dec. 31 @ Capitals- 12:30 p.m.- NHLN

The Capitals and Preds seem to be heading in two different directions at this point in the season. The Caps have one four straight while the Predators have managed to lose six straight. Nashville is finally starting to get some players back from injury so that should help the team turn things around going into the new calendar year.

If the Predators want to steal two points on the road they'll need to get good goaltending since the Capitals have no problem creating chances and burying them. Discipline is also going to be a key factor in this game since the Capitals have a dangerous power play. The road has not been a kind place to play for the Preds lately so the team is going to want to get off to a good start by establishing the pace early with a good cycling game to spend some time in the offensive zone. The biggest keys to this game is going to be keeping Alex Ovechkin and company off the board and avoiding costly turnovers.

Tuesday, Jan. 1 vs. Flyers- 8:30 p.m.- NHLN

The Predators will look to avenge their loss to the Flyers on Dec. 20 in Philadelphia where they lost 2-1 in regulation. This will be a game of two teams who just can't seem to get it going right now, but a revenge game at home is something that could get the Preds going in the right direction. The Flyers aren't getting blown out as much lately, but they are having a problem closing out games.

If you can stop Claude Giroux and his line, then you'll likely shut down the Flyers offense since it goes as he goes. This would be the perfect game for the Predators to get their awful power play going because the Flyers are one of the worst teams at killing penalties in the League. The Flyers will need to keep an eye on the Predators blue line since they like to create offense and play solid defense. The pace needs to be set early in this game with either some extended offensive zone time or a goal. The key to this game is going to be getting pucks on net and plenty of them since the Flyers goaltending has been anything but stellar so far.

Friday, Jan. 4 @ Red Wings- 7:30 p.m.

The Predators will have off for two days before playing a game against the Red Wings. The Predators should easily be able to get the regulation win and pick up two points, but this team just can't seem to win on the road right now. The Red Wings just can't seem to win games right now as they have struggled to put the puck in the back of the opposition net and keep it out of their own.

The two bright spots for the Red Wings have been Dylan Larkin and Gustav Nyquist, and they rank first and second on the team in points. The Red Wings are only killing 69.3% of their penalties on home ice so the Preds need to find a way to simplify their power play and cash in on some opportunities. They shouldn't have a problem getting some pucks on net, as the Red Wings give up over 34 shots per game, but finishing will be the key to this game.

Saturday, Jan. 5 @ Canadiens- 7 p.m.

The Canadiens have been one of the surprise teams of the first half of the season, and are currently fifth in the Atlantic Division. For the Predators, this will be the second game of a back-to-back situation having played Friday night and travelled.

The Predators need to jump on the Canadiens early and often because they may not have a late game comeback in them. They'll need to be smart with and without the puck to limit turnovers especially when Max Domi and Jonathan Drouin are on the ice together. The Preds want to avoid the penalty box and establish the cycle game early. The key to this game will be testing Antti Niemi early and often since he can let in some goals.

Preds Prey Prediction for the Week

The Predators will finish the week out with a 2-1-1 record. The road stuggles with continue with a loss to the Capitals on New Years Eve. The team will bounce back with regulation wins against the Flyers and Red Wings, who are two teams towards the bottom of the League standings. They will finish off the week with an overtime loss to the Canadiens, since they'll be coming off of a game the night before in Detroit.