Bolts Take On Avalanche as They Look to Make it 5 In a Row!

By Jake Ricker

Overview

The Tampa Bay Lightning (19-6-2) will continue their home stand as they take on the Colorado Avalanche (12-12-2). The Bolts will look to stay on top of the league while the Avalanche will look to try and get closer to .500. The Bolts will look to continue their success at home and keep up the offensive firepower.

Tampa’s Outlook

The Bolts have won the last 4 games and are back to their old selves. The Bolts offense has stepped back up in a big way, their getting pucks to the net and shooting at the right times. The Defensive unit has also stepped up in a big way as they fill in for the injured Dotchin and Coburn. Vasy has also played fantastic as he continues to make fantastic saves. The Bolts can maintain their lead at the top of the league with another win tonight.

Three Keys To Success

1. New Chemistry

The new lines have been working well so far. Keep spreading the wealth and playing smart hockey.

2. Trigger Happy

Bolts play well when the rack up shots. That also comes with zone time and forecheck. Keep pestering the opposing goaltender and never let him settle.

3. All-Star Leaders

Stamkos and Kuch lead the All-Star voting and look for them to keep leading the offense.

Projected Lines

Offence 

Namestnikov – Stamkos – Johnson

Palat – Point – Kucherov

Killorn – Gourde – Conacher

Kunitz – Paquette – Callahan

 

Defense

Hedman – Sustr

Sergachev – Stralman

Koekkoek – Girardi

 

Goalies

Peter Budaj:  1-2-1   GAA: 3.75   SV%: .867 (Likely)

 

Injuries

Jake Dotchin

Brayden Coburn

 

Colorado’s Outlook

The Avs are having another rough season as they currently sit at the bottom of the league. they will look to get things turned around against the Bolts but it won’t come easy as they go up against the best team in the league. The Avs will need to try and shut down the bolts offense by making them turn over the puck, while also keeping the puck in their own zone for as long as possible so the Bolts get fewer opportunities.

Three Keys To the Game

1.  Stay Out of the Box!

I know I have used this one before but it still holds true as The Bolts have a fantastic powerplay unit, and with Stamkos and Kuch heating up again this is not what they want.

2. Zone Time

When the Bolts hold on to the puck they have dominated the game, so they need to keep the puck in their possession and wait until they find the right opportunity to shoot.

3. Score first

The Bolts have played great at home so the Avs will need to keep the crowd out of this one and the best way to do that is score first.

Projected Lines

Offense

Landeskog – MacKinnon – Rantanen

Jost – Kerfoot – Compher

Nieto – Soderberg – Comeau

Andrighetto – Wilson – Yakupov

Defense

Zadorov – Johnson

Nemeth – Barrie

Girard – Siemens

Goalies

Semyon Varlamov: 8-6-1  GAA: 3.09  SV%: .905 (Confirmed)