The Tampa Bay Lightning come into this game off of a 5-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers. With the victory, Tampa is riding a 10-game win streak. With a record of 28-13-3, the Lightning sit at the top of the Atlantic Division. Tampa has been a stellar team once again this season, even handing the Colorado Avalanche a rare regulation loss. A big part of their success comes from a spectacular offence, ranking top five in the NHL. The Lightning are great defensively as well, sitting second-best in the league for goals against per game. Tampa Bay plays a stellar all-around team game and look to be one of the best teams in the league once again this season.
Nikita Kucherov leads the Lightning in scoring once again this season. In just 40 games, Kucherov has scored 23 goals and 67 points. Behind him, Jake Guentzel has proven to be a great acquisition. He has 20 goals and 47 points in 44 games. Superstar defenceman Victor Hedman continues to be out with injury, producing 12 assists in 18 games before going down. In his stead, upcoming free agent Darren Raddysh has seized his opportunity. He’s scored 12 goals and 39 points in 38 games to place fourth on the team in scoring. The Penguins will need to adjust their defensive plan to account for the blossoming defenceman.
With Jonas Johansson getting the start in Philadelphia last night, expect Andrei Vasilevskiy to start against Pittsburgh. The legendary Russian netminder is 18-7-2 this season with a .913 save percentage and 2.33 goals against average.