Three things to look for as Tampa Bay Lightning return to Chicago

by Erik Erlendsson | @Erik_Erlendsson | Like us on Facebook
January 24, 2017

The Tampa Bay Lightning return to action tonight at United Center to face the Chicago Blackhawks (8 p.m. on Fox Sports Sun, 970-AM and tblpowerplay.com) in rematch of the 2015 Stanley Cup Final (which at this point seems like years ago)

This is just Tampa Bay’s second trip to the United Center since losing Game 6 of the Final. Last season the Lightning lost 1-0 in overtime in the opening month.

Things have certainly changed for Tampa Bay this season, while the Blackhawks keep plugging along, sitting in second in the Central Division. The Lightning enter the game occupying the basement in the Eastern Conference standings.

As Tampa Bay looks to snap a three-game winless streak, here are three things to look for heading in to tonight’s game.

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1 – The Lightning need to respond from a poor showing against Arizona in the desert on Saturday, dropping a 5-3 game to the Coyotes that was not as close as the score indicated as Tampa Bay trailed 5-1 heading in to the third period.

Talk inside the locker room and from the coaching staff following the game centered on the effort and desperation being poor after putting a string together of five solid efforts before Saturday. That level has to come way up from the last game if the Lightning want to find a way to get out of the cellar. They need to get on a momentum-building streak and the margin for error in that department is gone. It has to start now.

2 – Goaltending play has been shotty, even during Tampa Bay’s run of improved play the past two weeks. Ben Bishop has turned the puck over, leading to goals or quality chances, and even went for a skate out of his crease in Anaheim that led to a tying goal. The two goals he let in to start the game against Arizona were bad-angle shots he has to stop.

And maybe that’s a reason why Andrei Vasilevskiy will get the start tonight against the Blackhawks. Though the second goal he allowed in his previous start in San Jose is another one that can’t happen when the team needs the goaltending to be at its best.

3 – Jason Garrison, who missed Saturday’s game with the flu, was back on the ice for trhe morning skate and is considered a game-time decision. J.T. Brown, who has missed the past seven games with an upper-body injury has been cleared to return and is also a game-time decision.

Garrison’s pending return will help round out the defense, which looked shaky against the Coyotes on Saturday with numerous odd-man rushes allowed, poor rush coverage and the poor coverage around the net area cropped back up again. If Garrison can return, that should help stabilize the backend.

Brown, meanwhile, has not produced much offense but is an energy player and could help provide some more energy to join that created by the line of Michael Bournival, Cedric Paquette and Gabriel Dumont in recent games. Maybe that can rub off on some of the other forwards.

Jon Cooper’s morning comments following morning skate

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