The Tampa bay lightning just can’t seem to get any momentum going in the win column. It’s been a case of win one lose one, lose two, and then win one so far for the Lightning.
At some point, the Lightning is going to have to get on a hot streak and puts some wins together against some good competition.
The Lightning are 2-1 over the last three games beating a underperforming San Jose Sharks team 7-1. The Bolts then made mistake after mistake against the New York Islanders and ended up with a 5-1 loss despite put playing the Islanders in the offensive zone.
The Lightning then put a good game together Tuesday night as they beat the Florida panthers 2-1 in Sunrise to get their 15th win of the season.
The Lightning are 15-11-3 on the season and are five points out of playoff spot.
Another tough opponent will be in town tonight as the Boston Bruins bring their 20-6-6 record to Tampa.
The Bruins are slowing down a bit from their red hot start and are just 2-4 in the month of December and have lost four in a row.
The Lightning beat the Bruins back in October at the Fleet Center 4-3 in a shootout in one of the Lightning’s best game this season.
Despite their four game losing streak, the Bruins are still one of the top teams in the East and have two of the top five scorers in the league in Brad Marchand and David Pasternak.
The Lightning will have to play with the same defensive effort against the Bruins to have any chance of winning this game.
Before the 2-1 win against the Panthers, the Lightning’s team defense was ranked 23rd in the league and when you are playing that poor defensively you have no chance of going anywhere in the playoffs and risk not making the playoffs with that kind of performance.
At the practice this morning, both Steven Stamkos and Ryan McDonagh reiterated that the formula for winning is to play good defense. When you do that, you give yourself a chance to win a ton of games.
The Lightning will attempt to take away the middle of the ice, and limit the amount of breakaways and keep the top line of Bergeron, Marchand, and Pasternak in check.
Andrei Vasilevskiy will get the start in goal tonight. Vasilevskiy is coming off two staring performances in which he has allowed two goals in wins against San Jose and Florida.
Tyler Johnson will miss this game and the game against Washington on Saturday according to Jon Cooper. Johnson suffered a lower body injury in the game against Washington on November 29th.
The Lightning are opening up a four game home stand tonight with the game against the Bruins. Washington, Ottawa, and Dallas will follow the visit tonight by the Bruins.
The Lightning are just 1-4 their last five game at Amalie Arena.
