The Tampa Bay Lightning are bringing a strong offense as they travel for the second of four visits to the West, starting with a Saturday afternoon game against the Vancouver Canucks to complete the season series between the two teams.
In their first meeting on October 15 in Tampa, Brayden Point, Brandon Hagel, and Anthony Cirelli each had a goal and an assist, leading the Lightning to a 4-1 win in their home opener.
That win, which happened nearly two months ago, was similar to the Lightning’s recent 8-1 victory against the San Jose Sharks on Thursday. However, the October game didn’t see as many goals as the recent one did.
Everything went well for the Lightning against the improved Sharks, as they led 5-0 after the first period. They also made it easy for goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy and matched their season-high in goals scored. The team also scored eight goals against the New Jersey Devils on October 22 and the Colorado Avalanche on November 25.
Entering Saturday’s game, the Lightning’s average of 3.92 goals per game is second only to the Washington Capitals (4.04).
After their game against Vancouver, the Lightning will head to Alberta to play the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames. The trip will end with a game against the Seattle Kraken.
“It’s always good to go on the road on a positive note,” said Lightning coach Jon Cooper. “But I also think you’ve got to turn the page on (the last game) and understand what we have ahead of us and some of the teams we’re going to face. This will be a good test for us.”
Nikita Kucherov, the Lightning’s first-line right winger, has missed the last two games due to an undisclosed injury.
After losing to Tampa Bay early in the season, the Canucks were 0-2-1, which was disappointing given the high expectations for the season. However, since that loss, coach Rich Tocchet’s team has gone 14-6-2 and is currently in the top half of the Pacific Division despite having played fewer games than other teams in the division.
The Canucks are 5-1-1 since November 23 and are coming off a strong 8-5-0 record in November.
In their 5-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday, Vancouver started its second six-game homestand with a comeback after falling behind 2-0. It was the 15th time in 25 games that Vancouver gave up the first goal, but they have a 9-5-1 record in those games.
“Something just clicks, and we start winning our puck battles and playing our style of hockey, but it’s obviously frustrating,” said Canucks forward Brock Boeser. “We’ve talked about this many times, and we’re all pretty aware that our starts aren’t good, and that was unacceptable again. I don’t know if it’s a lack of preparation or what.”
Boeser helped start the comeback on Friday with his seventh goal of the season, and later had an assist for his 400th NHL point, all with the Canucks.
“It means a lot just to do it with the guys in this room and the fan base,” Boeser said. “I always say how much I love playing here so it’s obviously special.”
Goalie Thatcher Demko was dressed as a backup for the first time since April 21, when he injured his knee during a Western Conference first-round playoff series.
