Game #58 Preview: Tampa Bay Lightning at Columbus Blue Jackets
Here’s what you need to know.
Tampa Bay Lightning at Columbus Blue Jackets
Tuesday, February 17, 2019 - 7:30 PM
Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio
TV: NBCSN - Radio: WBNS FM
Opponent’s Blog: Raw Charge
Tampa Bay Lightning, 44-11-4. 92 points, 1st Atlantic, 1st East
@
Columbus Blue Jackets, 33-21-3, 69 points, 3rd Metro, 6th East
Let’s try to keep this one close, eh boys?
The Tampa Bay Lightning come into this game as the class of the NHL by every conceivable metric, leading the league in goals scored, goal differential, points in the standings, and boasting the likely Hart Trophy favorite. Columbus ... has none of those things, but the Jackets are coming into this game on the heels of a dominating victory in the United Center over a streaking Chicago Blackhawks team.
Anything can happen, which is why they play the games. But the task tonight is enormous, to say the least. Tampa has outclassed Columbus in both previous matchups this season, including the infamous Sergei Bobrovsky walkout. Let’s see what the script shows tonight.
Player to Watch
Nikita Kucherov
There’s no stopping this guy, so just marvel at him. He’s going to win the Art Ross unless he gets hurt, and he’s probably going to win the Hart Trophy to go along with it. Here’s his numbers this season:
- 27 goals (19th in NHL)
- 67 assists (leads NHL)
- 94 points (leads NHL)
- 37 power play points (leads NHL)
- 4 game winning goals (29th in NHL)
- 16.6% shooting percentage/
He’s going to get his tonight. Sit back and enjoy the show.
Jackets Notes
Sergei Bobrovsky made 39 saves on Saturday night, the second most saves he’s made all season ... Josh Anderson scored his career high 20th goal of the season in Chicago ... Artemi Panarin registered 3 points on Saturday, giving him 67 for the season ... Cam Atkinson won three faceoffs against Chicago, while his linemate Pierre-Luc Dubois went zero for twelve
The Other Bench
Andrei Vasilevskiy has put together back to back shutouts ... Vasilevskiy now has the most shutouts in Tampa Bay history with 18 ... Nikita Kucherov leads this NHL in multi-point games this season with 28 ... The Lightning are the first team since the 1995-96 Penguins to have three players with 70 points in the first 60 games of a season
Season Series
10/13/2018 CBJ 2 @ TBL 8
01/08/2019 CBJ 0 @ TBL 4
02/18/2019 TBL @ CBJ
Stats
| Tampa Bay | Columbus | |
|---|---|---|
| 3.86 (1) | GPG | 3.25 (8) |
| 2.68 (5) | GAPG | 3.00 (15) |
| 29.7% (1) | PP% | 16.0% (26) |
| 84.6% (2) | PK% | 83.9% (3) |
| 51.95% (8) | EV Corsi % | 49.99% (13) |
| 1.018 (4) | EV PDO | 1.003 (11) |
| Brayden Point, 33 | G Leader | Cam Atkinson, 32 |
| Nikita Kucherov, 67 | A Leader | Artemi Panarin, 43 |
| Nikita Kucherov, 94 | P Leader | Artemi Panarin, 67 |
| Cedric Paquette, 58 | PIM Leader | Josh Anderson, 48 |
| 20-6-2 | Home / Road | 15-12-2 |
| 7-1-2 | Last 10 | 5-5-0 |
Projected Lineups
| Artemi Panarin | Pierre-Luc Dubois | Cam Atkinson |
| Anthony Duclair | Nick Foligno | Josh Anderson |
| Eric Robinson | Alexander Wennberg | Oliver Bjorkstrand |
| Kole Sherwood | Riley Nash | Lukas Sedlak |
| Ryan Murray | Seth Jones |
| Zach Werenski | David Savard |
| Scott Harrington | Markus Nutivaara |
| Sergei Bobrovsky |
| Joonas Korpisalo |
| Ondrej Palat | Steven Stamkos | Tyler Johnson |
| Yanni Gourde | Brayden Point | Nikita Kucherov |
| Alex Killorn | Anthony Cirelli | J.T. Miller |
| Adam Erne | Cedric Paquette | Mathieu Joseph |
| Victor Headman | Dan Girardi |
| Ryan McDonagh | Erik Cernak |
| Anton Stralman | Mikhail Sergachev |
| Andrei Vasilevskiy |
| Louis Domingue |