Tampa Bay Lightning Vs. Montreal Canadiens: Live Thread For Game No. 36
The Tampa Bay Lightning look to turn over a new leaf as they take on the Atlantic Division-leading Montreal Canadiens tonight at the Amalie Arena.
The Tampa Bay Lightning have had quite the rollercoaster of a season. What started out with a very positive outlook quickly turned to doom and gloom when the injury bug decided to rear its ugly head and inflicted chaos on the Lightning roster.
The good news is, thanks to the Christmas break, the Lightning have had five days to not only enjoy the holidays with their friends and family but give their bodies some much-needed time to heal. Unfortunately, the time for rest and relaxation has come to an end.
Tonight, the Tampa Bay Lightning will charge into the Amalie Arena, located deep in the heart of the Bolts Nation, to do battle with the Atlantic Division-leading Montreal Canadiens. Needless to say, this is going to be quite the challenge for the ailing Lightning, but the challenge is well within the grasp of the Bolts.
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As the Lightning prepared to take the ice tonight, they received some rather pleasant news. According to Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times, Lightning forwards Nikita Kucherov and Ondrej Palat will be ready to make their return to the ice tonight against the Canadiens.
Despite missing the last six games with a Lower-Body Injury, Nikita Kucherov still finds himself atop the mountain when it comes to points. In the 28 games the Kucherov has suited up for this season, he has brought home 13 goals and 17 assists for a total of 30 points.
Just one point below Nikita Kucherov is Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman, who has brought home six goals and 23 assists for a total of 29 points. Hedman is currently first place on the team in terms of assists.
The Tampa Bay Lightning will have to be very offensively aggressive against the Canadiens if they want to bring home a victory. The Bolts will be facing down Canadiens goaltender Carey Price at the Amalie Arena tonight. Price has a 18-5-0-2 record so far this season with a Goals Allowed Average of 1.91 and a Save Percentage of .934.
The Lightning are approaching the halfway point in the season, and if the Bolts have any chance of making it through to the postseason, they are going to have to find a way to overcome the adversity laid out before them, get back to basics, and start winning games.
As the old saying goes, the greatest journeys in life start with a single step. The Lightning have every opportunity in the world to take that very step tonight against Canadiens.
Are the Tampa Bay Lightning ready to take the step towards getting back on the right track and forging on towards a successful second half of the season? We’ll just have to watch and find out.
The action is set to kick off at 7:30 p.m. from the Amalie Arena in Tampa. If you’re not able to make it to the game, or if you’re just looking for something to do during intermission, feel free to join us here at Bolts By The Bay as we discuss all of the night’s action.
Looking to join the party? Just scroll on down to the comments section and join like-minded Lightning fans in spirited discussion during tonight’s game.
Topics: Tampa Bay Lightning, Montreal Canadiens, Atlantic Division, Eastern Conference
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