Raw Charge
Summary
Time: 2:00 PM Location: Bridgestone Arena, Nashville TV/Stream/Radio: The Spot, Scripps, ESPN+, 102.5 The Bone Odds: Lightning Know the Opponents: On the Forecheck After a back-and-forth win against the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday, the Lightning are off to Nashville for a quick one-game road trip to close out the month of October. With a 1:00 PM local start time, they’ll have enough time to go trick-or-treating after the game, even if it goes to overtime. Which, with the Predators, is a distinct possibility. Zemgus Girgensons isn’t expected to play, which probably means the Bolts will go back to an 11/7 rotation. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Scott Sabourin cycle in for Jeff Viel and Max Crozier in for Emil Lilleberg. With that configuration, it will be interesting to see how Coach Jon Cooper rolls out the lines. Pontus Holmberg had a career game playing mostly with Anthony Cirelli and Brandon Hagel, so they are likely to stick together. Expect a lot of mixing and maxing between the five players comprising the bottom two lines. There was a little chemistry between Dominic James and Conor Geekie so we might see a little more of that today. It’s been two games in a row where the Lightning have built a multi-goal lead early in the game only to stumble later in the game. They were able to hang on against Winnipeg to pick up the win, but it cost them a point in Utah. The fact that the Jets brought the score within a goal did dull the shine a little on a game where the Lightning absolutely dominated the middle frame as they tuned up their guests by outchancing them 17-6 with a 13-1 edge in high-danger chances. They’re try and duplicate that effort against a Nashville team that has been outchanced 164-157 on home ice. The Predators are in the midst of a five-game home stand that started with a nice 6-2 win over the Colorado Avalanche. Unfortunately, they backed that up with losses to the Islanders (in a shootout) and the Capitals. Shootouts aren’t uncommon to the Predators as they’ve gone to overtime twice and the super fun skills session three times. They’ve yet to pick up a victory in all of that time spent playing hockey, but the five Bettman Points have allowed them to stay in the wildcard hunt through the first month of the season. They are currently sitting two points behind San Jose for that last spot. Even strength scoring has been an issue for the Predators, especially at home. On the season, they are scoring just 1.76 goals per 60, which is 28th in the league. They’ve been a little unlucky as their expected goals, scoring chances, and high-danger chances all rank a little higher in the standings. A 33.3% power play on home ice has helped them a little, but at some point they have to start putting the puck in the net at even strength. Nashville is littered with former Lightning players from Nick Perbix (0 points in 12 games), Jonathan Marchesault (2 goals, 3 assists in 13 games), Ross Colton (2 goals, 2 assists in 13 games), and dear friend Steven Stamkos. The Captain hasn’t been struggling as he has 7 goals and 8 assists in 13 games with 4 goals and 3 assists coming at even strength. With 631 career goals, he’s passed Joe Sakic and Jarome Ignila on the all-time charts with Dave Andreychuck, who is in 16th place at 640 goals, next on the list. In four career games against the Bolts, he’s yet to record a goal, but has three assists. In case you were wondering, yes, it is the only franchise Stamkos hasn’t scored against in his career. Potential Lines Jake Guentzel Brayden Point Nikita Kucherov Brandon Hagel Anthony Cirelli Pontus Holmberg Gage Goncalves Dominic James Ilya Mikheyev Jeff Viel Conor Geekie Defense: J.J. Moser John Carlson Ryan McDonagh Erik Cernak Charle-Edouard D’Astous Max Crozier Victor Hedman Goaltenders: Andrei Vasilevskiy Dennis Hildeby Nashville Predators Forwards: Steven Stamkos Ryan O’Reilly Mavrik Borque Filip Forsberg Matthew Wood Nils Hoglander Ross Colton Jack Drury Adam Edstrom Alex Kerfoot Jonathan Marchessault Defense: Roman Josi Adam Wilsby Brady Sjkei Nick Perbix Nicolas Hague Jayden Struble Daemon Hunt Goaltenders: Juuse Saros Justus Annunen