It might not be good hockey, but it will be interesting hockey: Lightning at Panthers Preview

Game Seventeen: Tampa Bay Lightning (8-6-2) at Florida Panthers (9-7-1)

Time: 5:00 PM EST

Location: Amerant Bank Arena, The Outskirts of Miami

TV/Stream/Radio: Scripps, ESPN+, 102.5 FM, Lightning App

Odds: Lightning +114

Know the Opponents: Litter Box Cats

This is about the time of the season where we like to start looking at some of the underlying stats (scoring chances, high-danger chances, etc.) to get an idea of what kind of season the Tampa Bay Lightning are going to have. Some of the fluctuations due to a smaller sample size have been smoothed out and a general idea can be established. Unfortunately, when at least five key players are likely out of the line-up, those stats don’t really matter. As the Bolts get ready for their early-evening match with their rivals, the Florida Panthers, everything is thrown out the door as they patch together the best possible line-up they can.

With six regular players likely to be out (Anthony Cirelli, Brandon Hagel, Pontus Holmberg, Dominic James, Victor Hedman, and Ryan McDonagh) any previous team-based, or line-based stats can get thrown out the window. With this many injuries it’s hard to even gauge how players may get in practice since there are a couple of people participating (looking at you Nick Paul) that aren’t going to play in the game. Did that stop us from attempting to guess the lines at the end of this post? Of course not!

Whoever does get into the line-up tonight will be faced with the task of taking on the Florida Panthers. A team, kind of like the Lightning that isn’t putting their best face forward tonight due to some rather important players not suiting up for action. Matthew Tkachuk, Aleksander Barkov, Dmitry Kulikov, and Tomas Nosek are all on IR with Jonah Gadjovich the latest casualty as he is expected to miss several months. The projected line-ups seem more like a pre-season game than a regular-season contest.

So, two very broken teams will face off for two very important points. Will the need for points outweigh the blood-thirst these two teams seem to have developed over the last few years, and last two pre-season games especially? It wouldn’t be a shock if the league quietly reached out to both franchises to let them know that any sort of shenanigans, even cheeky and fun ones, would be frowned upon tonight. The best revenge is always a win, but with both teams fielding line-ups that skewer more towards grit than glamour, the post-whistle scrums and face-washes are inevitable at this point.

Florida’s two-game winning streak (which included Brad Marchand’s 1,000th point) vaulted them a point past the Lightning in the standings, so a victory for the Lightning tonight would be huge in the overall picture. We spoke about good teams finding ways to win in bad situations in our last preview, and the Lightning didn’t rise to the occasion. A slow start domed them against the Rangers, so expect them to come out with a sense of urgency early.

Offense has been hard to come by for the Panthers this year as they are tied for 26th in the league with 48 goals (one less than the Lightning!). With the players that they’ve been missing, that shouldn’t be surprising. So, if Tampa Bay can get an early lead Florida might not have the horses to stage a comeback.

Expect it to be a physical, tight-checking game. There probably won’t be much open space for the Lightning’s top line to work, and Nikita Kucherov will be drawing a lot of attention. They have to keep their composure and not be willingly enticed into retaliatory penalties. We’re not expecting pretty hockey tonight, but it will be another good test to see if the Lightning can grind out a low-event type of win.

Potential Lines

Tampa Bay Lightning

Forwards:

Zemgus GirgensonsBrayden PointNikita KucherovJake GuentzelBoris KatchoukGage GoncalvesOliver BjorkstrandYanni GourdeJakob PelletierCurtis DouglasJack FinleyScott Sabourin

Defense:

J.J. MoserDarren RaddyshCharle-Edouard D’AstousErik CernakEmil LillebergMax Crozier

Goaltenders:

Andrei VasilevskiyJonas Johansson

Florida Panthers

Forwards:

Eetu LuostarinenAnton LundellBrad MarchandCarter VerhaegheEvan RodriguesSam ReinhartJesper BoqvistSam BennettMackie SamoskevichA.J. GreerCole SchwindtLuke Kunin

Defense:

Gustav ForslingAaron EkbladNiko MikkolaSeth JonesDonovan SebrangoJeff Petry

Goaltenders:

Sergei BobrovskyDanil Tarasov