The Bolts have snagged five out of a possible six points on this homestand, after a difficult roadtrip. They'll look to keep building tonight against a struggling San Jose Sharks team.
Sometimes ugly losses need to happen to get your season back on the right track. Taking away the overtime loss to Toronto, this has been a productive homestand for the Tampa Bay Lightning.
So far they’ve collected five out of a possible six points and with a struggling San Jose team heading into Amalie tonight, they’re hoping to grab two more.
Some of the variables that come with a brand new team are starting to work themselves out. Jon Cooper seems to have settled on a top line for now with Alex Barre-Boulet, Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov. Barre-Boulet came through with his second goal of the season on Tuesday night after a long stint in the AHL.
“You're not asking him to go and be on a checking line and kill penalties for you and block shots,” Jon Cooper said on Tuesday. You're asking him to do what he's doing here now and he's making the best of his opportunity.
I'm really happy with how he's played for us and really stuck with it and so it's good for him.”
Overall the Lightning have looked more cohesive as a unit and they defended well against Carolina, blocking 19 shots total. After the loss to Toronto, they wanted to reduce the number of turnovers and most importantly, ensure a turnover didn’t lead to an opposition scoring opportunity.
They went 4-for-4 on the penalty kill and moved to 94.1% on the PK this season, the third-highest percentage among all NHL teams. The Bolts have not allowed a power-play goal against since the first game of the season vs. Nashville.
The San Jose Sharks on the other hand have lost 6 in a row, scoring just one goal in each of their last three games. Regardless of recent struggles, you can never take any NHL team lightly. This game could be an opportunity for Jon Cooper to get his lines going and hopefully see production from the third and fourth lines. The Lightning can use tonight's game as a chance to get more shots on net with the Sharks allowing 34.42 scoring chances per 60 minutes.