Raw Charge
Summary
Time: 4:00 PM Location: Benchmark International Arena TV/Stream/Radio: The Spot, ESPN+, 102.5 The Bone Odds: Lightning -395 Know the Opponents: Canucks Army Things started out okay for the Vancouver Canucks as they beat Edmonton and Calgary for wins in two of their first three games. Since then, well, it’s been pretty rough. They hit a rainy Tampa for the last game of a six-game road trip without the sweet taste of victory in their previous five games. Add the loss to Vegas before they left Vancouver and that spells a six-game losing streak. They’ve been competitive in a handful of games, but the offense has been non-existent as they’ve scored just eleven goals on the road trip. That comes after opening up the season with thirteen goals in two games against the Oilers. The defense has struggled as well, allowing a league-high 41 goals on the season. Kevin Lankinen had been the starter for most of the season, but a 6.88 GAA and .786 SV% in six games has allowed Leevi Merilainen to take over in the crease. The 24-year-old is 1-1-1 with a 2.51 GAA and .925 SV%. Those numbers are even more impressive considering the volume of shots he has to fend off. In his last three starts the Canucks have allowed 111 shots and only 9 have gotten past the Finnish netminder. Despite their struggles, the Lightning can’t afford to look past them. There are two points up for grabs and the Lightning need to grab them. It’s still early in the season by the Atlantic is already looking like it’s going to be a gauntlet. Four teams already have ten points and every team except for Detroit has a .500 or better record. So far the Lightning haven’t taken any games off. Yes, they’ve struggled against the Rangers, but other than that they’ve skated really well and not played down to their competition (cough, Philadelphia, cough). This afternoon’s contest against the Canucks could be a trap game for them, so they need to star on their forecheck and dictate the pace of play for sixty minutes. If they can maintain that level, this could be a good game for their offense. Vancouver is next to last in penalty-killing with a 60% success rate and could be the tonic that helps the Lightning get their struggling power play unit going. Tampa Bay had some solid looks in their last two opportunities against Seattle, especially when Anthony Cirelli joined the top unit. Sometimes it just takes a good game and one or two goals to go in to get the confidence going and ease the grip on their sticks. Expect a fast-paced game today as the Lightning look to head out on the road with a little winning streak under their belts. Forwards: Jake Guentzel Brayden Point Gage Goncalves Brandon Hagel Anthony Cirelli Nikita Kucherov Pontus Holmberg Zemgus Girgensons Ilya Mikheyev Jeff Viel Dominic James Conor Geekie Defense: J.J. Moser John Carlson Ryan McDonagh Erik Cernak Victor Hedman Emil Lilleberg Charle-Edouard D’Astous Goaltenders: Dennis Hildeby Andrei Vasilevskiy Vancouver Canucks Forwards: Jake DeBrusk Elias Pettersson Jonathan Lekkerimaki Liam Ohgren Drew O’Connor Linus Karlsson Paul Cotter Filip Chytil Brock Boeser Arshdeep Bains Max Sasson Brendan Gallagher Defense: Elias Pettersson Filip Hronek Jamie Oleksiak Tom Willander Zeev Buium Victor Mancini Goaltenders: Kevin Lankinen Leevi Merilainen