The Carolina Hurricanes will face the Tampa Bay Lightning for the final, regular season meeting between the two teams.
Lineups and Game Preview: Carolina Hurricanes vs. Tampa Bay Lightning
The Canes have won two in a row and they'll look to make it three tonight.
Here are my three keys to tonight's game:
Tighten Up Special Teams
Things had been going pretty well for the Hurricanes in terms of special teams, but Wednesday was a rare off-day.
The power play was 0-for-5, but essentially -1-for-5 as they gave up a shorthanded goal due to some poor backchecking.
The penalty kill also didn't start off too hot, conceding a goal five seconds into their first opportunity, but it did get better as the game went along, including some crucial kills in the third period.
With Nikita Kucherov expected to be in the lineup for Tampa (he missed the last meeting due to illness), the Canes need the penalty kill to be sharp early.
That and scoring a power play goal wouldn't hurt either.
Don't Let Andrei Vasilevskiy Get Comfortable
After missing the start of the season due to having back surgery late into the offseason, Lightning star goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy is set to make his season debut tonight.
Everyone knows what Vasilevskiy is capable of (two Stanley Cups, a Conn Smythe, a Vezina) so you certainly don't want him to find his groove early.
Carolina will want to get heavy traffic to the front and force Vasilevskiy to move in his crease. Get those side to side passes going and just make life difficult for the elite goaltender.
Be Prepared to Get Physical, but Stay Smart
It seems that every game this year between these two teams has had a bit of an edge to it.
Tampa has a few agitators in its lineup and its defense corp is big and tough, so you know the hits will be coming (the Lightning are third in the league in total hits with 379).
Carolina has to be prepared to answer that, which they've been good at this season when they've needed to be, but the key is to stay smart.
The team needs to not take retaliatory penalties and play above what some of the Bolts will try to goad them into, because that Lightning power play is deadly.
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