Raw Charge
Summary
Time: 7:00 PM Location: Benchmark International Arena, Tampa TV/Stream/Radio: The Spot, CHSN, ESPN+, 102.5 The Bone Odds: Lightning -475 Know the Opponents: Second City Hockey This was supposed to be the year, right? Chicago was supposed to be done acquiring talent and start putting it to use. After four seasons of drafting in the top ten, they actually traded their pick away for Bo Byram. Nothing says we’re ready to compete like giving away a top-five pick for a veteran (even if he is still relatively young). Instead of draft lottery speculation, ‘Hawks fans were supposed to be keeping an eye on playoff races when the snow started melting in the Windy City this spring. Yet, here they are, 31st in the league standings with only Vancouver cushioning their descent to the basement of the NHL. They’ve yet to taste victory on the road, and following a loss to Florida, had to hear professional talking head Paul Bissonnette call them “soft” on national TV. They can’t score on the road (1.76 GF/60) and they can’t keep it out of the net (3.52 GA/60) away from the Madhouse on Madison. No wonder the Lightning are heavy, heavy favorites heading into tonight’s contest. Yet. There is absolutely no way the Lightning can take this game for granted. Chicago might not have put it all together yet, but they have the type of players that have frustrated Tampa Bay over the years – young, skilled, fast forwards. Frank Nazar, Conor Bedard, Oliver Moore, and Anton Frondell have the skills to skate past and dangle through a Lightning defense that is fighting it a bit at the moment. While they held the Detroit Red Wings to two goals on Tuesday, part of that was due to the fact that the visitors missed some wide-open opportunities, especially in the second and third periods. Aided by three power plays and a long stretch of 6-on-5 play at the end of the game, Detroit generated 13 scoring chances and 7 high-danger chances against a Tampa Bay team that struggled with their defensive zone coverage. If the Lightning don’t improve on that, Chicago has the firepower to exploit it. Despite playing last night, expect a strong effort from Chicago as they look to stop their seven-game winless streak on the road. Head coach Jeff Blashill wasn’t as blunt as Bissonnette, but he did bring into question his team’s compete level, “”[It’s] not necessarily about the physicality, just the competition level to win battles,” Blashill said. “[Bedard] competed like crazy. For not every guy to follow that suit is not acceptable. A lot of guys did, but you’ve got to have 20 going.” Make no mistake, Chicago is still a very young team with trades made over the last year sapping a lot of the veteran leadership from the locker room, but at some point they have to understand that top-end talent alone won’t produce wins. There are two ways they can respond to the challenge laid down by their coach – fold or re-double their effort. It’s on the Lightning to make sure that any push is met with resistance, and any mistake made is put into the back of the net. It helps that two of Chicago’s veterans will be out of the line-up as Bo Byram is on injured reserve and Patrick Kane is also expected to miss the game. In his career, Kane has 38 points (13 goals, 25 assists) against the Bolts. Speaking of injuries, there is a chance that Zemgus Girgensons returns to the line-up tonight. He was a full participant in practice on Wednesday. With Dominic James in Syracuse and Yanni Gourde not quite ready, there is a need for a center. If he is in the line-up, expect him to reunite with Pontus Holmberg and Ilya Mikheyev after that line was mixed up in his absence. That would put Gage Goncalves on a line with Anthony Cirelli and Brandon Hagel. Goncalves had one of his more noticeable games against the Red Wings as he generated five shot attempts on four scoring chances. He was also double-shifted throughout the game and when he was on the ice with Conor Geekie and Jeff Viel the Lightning had an 8-0 edge in scoring chances and 11-1 edge in shot attempts. The morning skate on Thursday was optional, so actual lines (and a starting goaltender) will be a game-time decision. It is worth noting that Andrei Vasilevskiy is 14-1 with a .928 SV% and 2.11 GAA all time against Chicago. If he does play, he’ll make his 600th career start in the regular season. Not too shabby. Potential Lines Forwards: Jake Guentzel Brayden Point Nikita Kucherov Brandon Hagel Anthony Cirelli Gage Goncavles Pontus Holmberg Zemgus Girgensons Ilya Mikheyev Jeff Viel Conor Geekie Defense: J.J. Moser Max Crozier Ryan McDonagh Erik Cernak Victor Hedman John Carlson Emil Lilleberg Goaltenders: Andrei Vasilevskiy Dennis Hildeby Chicago Blackhawks Forwards: Roman Kantserov Connor Bedard Tyler Bertuzzi Oliver Moore Frank Nazar Ryan Donato Cole Smith Anton Frondell Teuvo Teravainen Dillon Boucher Ryan Greene Jordan Greenway Defense: Wyatt Kaiser Artyom Leshunov Alex Vlasic Ian Cole Ethan del Mastro Sam Rinzel Goaltenders: Arvid Soderblom Spencer Knight