Raw Charge
Summary
Time: 10:30 PM Location: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas TV/Stream/Radio: ESPN, 102.5 The Bone Odds: Lightning -105 Know the Opponents: Knights on Ice Not only are the Vegas Golden Knights the highest scoring team in the league with 24 goals, but they also have the best overall goal differential at +18. They’re also 5-1 at home, with that lone defeat coming on opening night against the Anaheim Ducks. Oddly enough, while their stats have been good, they haven’t necessarily been great under the bright lights of Vegas. Shots for/60 – 29.88 – 6th Shots against/60 – 25.1 -17th Scoring Chances For/60 – 27.49 – 17th Scoring Chances Against/60 – 27.69 23rd GF/60 – 2.79 – 14th GA/60 – 1.99 – 11th So, it’s not like the Lightning don’t have a chance. They’re just going to have to be at the top of their game, something they haven’t been at on the road, in order to run with the Golden Knights. Vegas is being led be the usual suspects as Jack Eichel (18 points), Mark Stone (14 points), and Mitch Marner (11 points) are all over a point-per-game on the season. They’re also getting contributions from other sources as Tomas Hertl, Victor Olofsson (currently injured), Brett Howden, and Trevor Connelly all have four goals a piece on the young season. The Bolts have had an up-and-down record in Vegas, literally. They have alternated losses and wins over their previous eight visits to T-Mobile Arena. The bad news is, that if the streak continues, they are due for a loss as they won 6-3 in Vegas last November. So, how can they break the streak and make it two in a row? Pretty much the same way they’ve won most of their games at home – limit turnovers and control the pace of play. Sometimes the game of hockey is pretty simple and it doesn’t take a lot of fancy play to win games. The Lightning need to forecheck, they need to slow Vegas down in the neutral zone, and they need to get pucks on net. When Tampa Bay has been at its best this season, they’ve prevented teams from scoring simply by preventing them extended time in the Lightning’s zone. That will be key against Vegas. If the Golden Knights get their cycle game going, and force the Bolts to chase them around, it’s going to be a long night in the desert. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Coach Jon Cooper rely heavily on the Anthony Cirelli and Zemgus Girgensons lines for much of the night. Throughout the first part of the season, both of those trios have been pretty effective at keeping offense at bay. Despite playing the most ice time together (72+ minutes) at 5v5, Girgensons, Ilya Mikheyev, and Pontus Holmberg have only been on the ice for one goal against. A little lucky? Probably (Evolving Hockey has them at 2.13 xGA), but they are three players that are park hounds, and generally giant pains to play against. The Cirelli line, recently reunited with Nikita Kucherov, hasn’t had as much time on the ice together, but the Lightning are currently rocking a 0.86 xGA when they’re out there. The nice part of those two lines is that they aren’t just defensive. Girgensons and company have been on the ice for five Lightning goals while Cirelli, Brandon Hagel, and Kucherov have posted a nifty 2.20 expected goals for in just 27 minutes of ice time. If those six players can hold serve, that frees up the Lightning’s other lines to do some damage. In their last outing, the Lightning finally put a puck in the net on the power play as Nikita Kucherov scored his second goal of the season. At practice on Monday, the Bolts did mix things up a little. Charle-Edouard D’Astous saw some time at the point with Brayden Point in the left circle, Hagel at the bumper, Kucherov in his normal spot, and Jake Guentzel down low. According to reporters on the scene, they also tinkered with John Carlson in the left circle, Kucherov at the quarterback position, Point back in the slot, Guentzel in the right circle and Hagel down low. Who knows if they will go with that in the game, but at least they are giving their opponents something different to scout. It also give the players a slightly different look on the ice, and sometimes that helps shake the cobwebs loose, even if they run the same configuration that is producing at a lackluster 10% success rate. Vegas is at 73.9% on the PK, so the Bolts may get some looks. It will help if they are able to cash them in tonight. It should be a tough game between two teams with Stanley Cup aspirations. While the storyline might be that the Lightning are facing their first true test of the season, it’s not exactly going to be a cake walk for the home team. Vegas is going to have to put up a fight if they don’t want the Lightning to come into their house and steal a couple of points. This week is going to be one of the toughest on the schedule for the Bolts as they follow up tonight’s game with one against Colorado on Friday and then they have a surprising Utah game the next night. They are facing three teams that are among the best in the west, and it’s not out of the realm of possibility that the Lightning play extremely well and walk out with just one win on this road trip. Forwards: Jake Guentzel Brayden Point Gage Goncalves Brandon Hagel Anthony Cirelli Nikita Kucherov Pontus Holmberg Zemgus Girgensons Ilya Mikheyev Dominic James Conor Geekie Jeff Viel Defense: J.J. Moser John Carlson Ryan McDonagh Erik Cernak Victor Hedman Charle-Edouard D’Astous Goaltenders: Andrei Vasilevskiy Dennis Hildeby Vegas Golden Knights Forwards: Ivan Barbashev Jack Eichel Mark Stone Brett Howden William Karlsson Mitch Marner Trevor Connelly Tomas Hertl Raphael Lavoie Braeden Bowman Nic Dowd Marc Gatcomb Defense: Brayden McNabb Shea Theodore Jeremy Lauzon Rasmus Andersson Noah Hanifin Dylan Coghlan Goaltenders: Adin Hill Carter Hart