As the 4-Nations Face-Off tournament and the upcoming break in February approach, the Tampa Bay Lightning are hoping for some stability as January wraps up.
After playing 15 games in 27 days, the Lightning will finish a difficult January on Thursday night with a home game against the Los Angeles Kings.
The Lightning have a record of 6-8-1 in January, and they’ve been struggling with a 1-4-0 record in their last five games. This includes a 2-0 loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday and a 4-1 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday.
Because of this slide, the Lightning have dropped from third place in the Atlantic Division to the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.
Things are not looking good in downtown Tampa despite the team’s strong 15-7-1 record at home.
“There’s not a magic potion of what you’re going to say that makes anybody feel better,” said Lightning coach Jon Cooper. “Guys are frustrated. Sometimes you have to let them breathe, take a breath and circle back tomorrow. We get to have a practice. I think we’ve had two in the whole month.”
The team was without their top goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy (illness) for the game against Chicago, which was a must-win situation for Tampa Bay. Despite a 34-save performance from Chicago’s goalie Arvid Soderblom, Brayden Point scored his team-leading 28th goal with an assist from Nikita Kucherov, who reached 74 points in 47 games.
Captain Victor Hedman will play his 1,100th game on Thursday.
The Kings, on the other hand, lost 3-0 to the Florida Panthers on Wednesday, making them 0-2-1 on their five-game road trip.
However, Los Angeles received some good news when veteran defenseman Drew Doughty made his season debut. Doughty had missed the first 47 games of the season after breaking his left ankle in the preseason.
Doughty will help improve the Kings’ power play, which ranks 29th in the league, but Kings coach Jim Hiller is managing expectations for him as he works his way back.
“We want to keep the expectations realistic for him,” Hiller said. “It’s going to take a little time for him to get into form, but we’re happy. We’re starting the process. It has been a long time, but the guys have done a really good job in his absence.”
Jordan Spence, a defenseman from Australia, has been performing well lately, with four points (one goal and three assists) in his last six games.
Forward Adrian Kempe has been productive for the Kings, scoring seven goals this month.
