Game Twenty-Four: Tampa Bay Lightning (14-7-2) at Detroit Red Wings (13-10-1)

Time: 12:00 PM EST

Location: Little Caesers’ Arena, Motor City

TV/Stream/Radio: The Spot, FDSNDET, ESPN+, 102.5 FM, Lightning App

Odds: Lightning -125

Know the Opponents: Winging it in Motown

If you need an example of how tight things are in the Eastern Conference, prior to Wednesday’s games, the Detroit Red Wings were in second place in the Atlantic Division, and just one point behind the Tampa Bay Lightning. Detroit lost their game to the Predators and not only dropped out of second place, they dropped out of a playoff spot altogether.

So, yes, this game may have a little bit of importance tied to it despite it still being November. The Lightning have done an excellent job of grabbing points over the last month, a lot have come against non-divisional foes, which is kind of why things are all clumped up right now.

Much like Montreal, Detroit started the season a lot stronger than many forecasters predicted, winning 9 of their first 13 games. Recently, they’ve hit a bit of a speed bump with just 4 wins in their last 11, with the defensive side of things getting a little wonky.

Depth is a bit of an issue as they have a really, really good top line led by Lucas Raymond (who is emerging as an elite forward). Their second line is solid as well. After that it gets a bit dicey as the bottom-six hasn’t produced quite as well they’ve hoped.

The Lightning on the other hand have taken a team approach to their winning streak. Yes , Brandon Hagel, who, once he remembered he could score hasn’t stopped (23 points in 15 games since October 25) and Nikita Kucherov 22 points in 16 games) have led the way, but they’re also getting contributions from Jake Guentzel (17 points), Anthony Cirelli (13 points), Zemgues Girgensons (5 goals!), and some defensive non-regulars in Darren Raddysh (7 points) and Charle-Edouard D’Astous (7 points) during that stretch.

They’re playing a solid team defense, limiting both their own mistakes and the chances against by their opponents. And when they do break down, Andrei Vasilevskiy has been there to make the stops. If we keep October 25th as our random date, Vasilevskiy has posted a 10-2-0 record with a .931 SV%, 1.80 GAA, and 14.72 GSAx during his 12 appearances. Jonas Johansson’s numbers are a bit more pedestrian at .886 SV%, 3.30 GAA, and -1.62 GSAx, but he’s made the stops the teams needed him to and posted a 3-1-0 record.

As a team, fast starts have been key to their success since October 25th. They’ve scored a league-leading 23 first-period goals on their way to a 13-3-0 record while allowing just 12 by the opposition. While they may occasionally stumble along the way (and along the way, we mean the second period), they’ve held on to the early leads they’ve created as they have an 8-1-0 record when leading going into the third period. Closing out leads has always been a hallmark of their successful teams.

If nothing else, it should be an entertaining game today.

Potential Lines

Tampa Bay Lightning

Forwards:

Brandon HagelAnthony CirelliNikita KucherovJake GuentzelNick PaulGage GoncalvesZemgus GirgensonsYanni GourdePontus HolmbergCurtis DouglasDominic JamesOliver Bjorkstrand

Defense:

J.J. MoserDarren RaddyshCharle-Edouard D’AstousEmil LillebergDeclan CarlileSteven Santini

Goaltenders:

Andrei VasilevskiyJonas Johansson

Detroit Red Wings

Forwards:

Emmitt FinnieDylan LarkinLucas RaymondAlex DeBrincatMarco KasperPatrick KaneAndrew CoppNate DanielsonJames Van RiemsdykElmer SoderblomJ.T. CompherMason Appleton

Defense:

Ben ChiarotMoritz SeiderErik GustafssonAxel Sandin-PellikkaAlbert JohanssonTravis Harmonic

Goaltenders: