Summary
The Tampa Bay Lightning return to Benchmark International Arena tonight looking to keep their perfect home record intact as they host the Chicago Blackhawks on Military Appreciation Night presented by USAA and GOVX. On today's Daily Strike, Steve Versnick previews the final home game before the Bolts head out on a four-game road trip. The Lightning enter the night at a franchise-record 7-0 at home and remain the NHL's only undefeated team on home ice this season. Tampa Bay is coming off a 4-2 victory over the Detroit Red Wings and sits with 20 points through 14 games despite having games in hand on every team ahead of them in the Atlantic Division standings. Head Coach Jon Cooper discusses the decision to reassign Dominic James to the Syracuse Crunch, while also weighing in on the impressive start to the season from Conor Geekie, who leads the team with 43 hits and has already matched last year's goal total with four. The Lightning could soon get another boost as Yanni Gourde continues progressing in his recovery from offseason surgery and could be activated during the upcoming road trip. In Today's Episode: Preview of tonight's matchup: Lightning vs. Chicago Blackhawks Tampa Bay's perfect 7-0 home record, the best start at home in franchise history Yanni Gourde could return during the upcoming road trip after offseason surgery Dominic James reassigned to the Syracuse Crunch and Jon Cooper's thoughts on the move Conor Geekie's physical impact and strong rookie campaign Brayden Point carries a five-game point streak and sits just two points shy of 700 for his career The Lightning rank among the NHL leaders in goals per game and 5-on-5 scoring Ilya Mikheyev faces the Blackhawks for the first time since leaving Chicago Andrei Vasilevskiy is one start away from No. 600 in his NHL career New Block Party Podcast featuring Jeff Viel discussing his NHL journey and adjustment to Tampa Bay Military Appreciation Night festivities including military vehicles, a Marine Corps display, and a WWII Willys Jeep outside the arena The new Hometown Remix collection is available now online and at Benchmark International Arena The Bolts have been dominant at home all season and will look to make it eight straight before embarking on a challenging four-game road trip. Subscribe to Daily Strike for daily Tampa Bay Lightning news, game previews, player interviews, prospect updates, and everything happening around the organization. #TampaBayLightning #GoBolts #NHL #LightningHockey #AndreiVasilevskiy #BraydenPoint #ConorGeekie #YanniGourde #IlyaMikheyev #ChicagoBlackhawks #DailyStrike #BoltsNation #HockeyPodcastSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.