The Lightning open their weekend back-to-back with a matchup in Buffalo.
The Lightning open their weekend back-to-back with a matchup in Buffalo.
The Tampa Bay Lightning are coming off a successful home stand with four straight wins. They’ve corrected some of the issues they were facing in the first half of the season, added a few Syracuse players to the roster, and have really started to build confidence. All signs are pointing forward, but the key is to carry that energy on the road.
The first stop is a weekend back-to-back that starts today against the Sabres. The Lightning offense has recovered from where they were in November and December, outscoring their opponents 19-9 in their last four games.
The Lightning play well at Amalie Arena and have expressed on multiple occasions that they feed off energy from the fans. When you compare the stats, that tracks. Their save percentage is lower on the road and so is their power play percentage. Lightning coach Jon Cooper noted that one of the biggest changes he’s seen over the past four games is that they’re not turning over the puck.
All of that said, the team has a different energy to them right now. Confidence is building and the energy from Syracuse has been welcomed.
The Buffalo Sabres have struggled, but they’ve put a few wins together recently. This team had high hopes of being a playoff contender and while that doesn’t appear to be happening this year, they still have speed up front. This will be a good test for the Lightning early on.
Puck drop is early at 12:30 pm EST.
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