Nice win, now do it again: Golden Knights at Lightning preview

Game Nine: Vegas Golden Knights (5-1-2) at Tampa Bay Lightning (2-4-2)

Time: 5:00 PM EST

Location: Benchmark International Arena, The Lightning Capital of the World

TV/Stream/Radio: Scripps, SN, SN1, TVAS, ESPN+, 102.5 FM, Lightning App

Odds: Lightning -140

Know the Opponents: Knights on Ice

On a night where the Lightning celebrated some individual milestones, they found a way to pick up two points after blowing a two-goal, third-period lead. The game was played at a fairly brisk pace as the young Anaheim forwards played with speed and skill which led to some tense moments for the Bolts and their fans. In the end, Tampa Bay’s defense stiffened when they needed to, all but stifling the Ducks over the last three minutes of the game.

The win snapped their week-long losing streak, and eased some of the pressure. Their reward, another early evening start against a team with one regulation loss. That loss came on Saturday in Sunrise when the Golden Knights were thoroughly outplayed by the Florida Panthers. In the 3-0 shutout, Vegas mustered just 33.3% of the scoring chances and 30.43% of the high-danger chances at 5v5 while getting only 17 shots on net.

Expect them to come out with a little fire under them after a substandard outing. They are adjusting to life without some of their bigger names as Mark Stone (shocking, we know) and Alex Pietangelo are on injured reserve. Noah Hanifin is officially day-to-day but isn’t expected to play. Goaltender Aiden Hill is also injured, and with Akira Schmid playing against Florida, it means the Lightning are likely to face rookie Carl Lindbom, who would be making his NHL debut.

Expect Andrei Vasilevskiy in net for the Lightning as he continues to look for his first win of the season. Vasilevskiy’s play hasn’t been terrible so far this year, but it also hasn’t been up to the standards that he has set over his career. The Lightning will need him to find his form if they’re going to pull off another win.

In front of him, Coach Cooper might have to keep mixing things up. Zemgus Girgensons returned to the line-up, and had a typical Girgensons’ type of game. He had some opportunities, but couldn’t cash in. He threw three hits and won 55.56% of his face-offs. He’ll likely be in the line-up, but it wouldn’t be surprising if Coach Cooper pulls one of his forwards and goes with an 11/7 rotation.

Charle-Edouard D’Astous played fairly well in his NHL debut, teaming up with Emil Lilleberg for 10:48 of ice time. The Lightning were upside down on scoring chances (6-3) and high-danger chances (2-0) when the duo were out there, but honestly, that true for the Ryan McDonagh/Erik Cernak pairing as well. Credit to Victor Hedman and J.J. Moser for bucking the trend as the Lightning had a 13-2 scoring chances and 9-0 high-danger chance advantage when the top pair was skating around.

Couple that with the fact that Curtis Douglas played just 2:46, including just single shifts in the second and third periods, and you could see why Coach Cooper may sit a forward. The other option would be to cycle Jack Finley, who hasn’t played since the Columbus loss, back into the line-up. It would give him some size to help match up against the skating oak trees that Vegas has on defense, but the rookie would have to play better than he has in order to be effective.

No matter how it plays out, the Lightning have a chance to build on the win. If they play with the tenacity that they displayed over the last five minutes or so in the win on Saturday, they can do that. It will be tougher against a more experienced team in Vegas, but it’ll be a good test for them.

One win was nice, but two in a row is a winning streak. That’s what the Bolts need right now.

Potential Lines

Tampa Bay Lightning

Forwards:

Brandon HagelBrayden PointNikita KucherovJake GuentzelAnthony CirelliDominic JamesOliver BjorkstrandYanni GourdeGage GoncalvesCurtis DouglasZemgus GirgensonsPontus Holmberg

Defense:

Victor HedmanJ.J. MoserRyan McDonaghErik CernakCharle-Edouard D’AstousEmil Lilleberg

Goaltenders:

Andrei VasilevskiyJonas Johansson

Vegas Golden Knights

Forwards:

Ivan BarbashevJack EichelBrandon SaadPavel DorofeyevTomas HertlMitch MarnerReilly SmithWilliam KarlssonAlexander HoltzBrett HowdenColton SissonsKeegan Kolesar

Defense:

Brayden McNabbShea TheodoreBen HuttonZach WhitecloudJeremy LauzonKaedan Korczak

Goaltenders: