The Tampa Bay Lightning will face a litmus test of their playoff worthiness when they host the New York Rangers and the Florida Panthers in critical contests before heading out on a four-game West Coast road trip. Not only will they get a chance to earn badly needed points in the hopes of qualifying for this year’s playoffs, but they will also face the two best teams in the Eastern Conference and potential first-round opponents.
Lightning head coach Jon Cooper discussed the importance of these two games after the team’s victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday night (March 9): “This will be a big test for us. But more importantly, we’re looking at the dogfight with teams like the one we played (Saturday). So, to be able to make it a two-point game (Saturday) was big for us.” The Lightning are currently two points ahead of the New York Islanders and the Detroit Red Wings as they battle for the two wild-card spots in the Eastern Conference (from ‘5 encouraging numbers as Lightning prepare for stretch drive’, Tampa Bay Times, March 11, 2024).
Lightning Get Spark From New Additions
For a game that drew more attention from the Flyers head coach, John Tortorella, being ejected and refusing to leave the bench in a timely fashion, the Lightning did see some immediate impact from trade deadline acquisitions Matt Dumba and Anthony Duclair. Even after a flight that saw him land in Tampa on Saturday afternoon, Dumba added some energy to the Lightning blue line, logging 25 shifts and 20:04 of ice time. Duclair assisted on a power play goal and provided a screen on Brandon Hagel’s goal. Even more importantly, goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy played well in the shutout, thwarting 15 Flyer scoring chances and five high-danger opportunities, which hopefully is a permanent rebound after posting a .861 save percentage (SV%) in his previous nine starts.
Another trend that will hopefully continue is support from the bottom six forward group. While Nikita Kucherov did extend his point streak to eight games with one assist, Conor Sheary added a goal, his second in as many games, after breaking a 36-game scoring drought last Thursday (March 7) in a loss to the Calgary Flames. Darren Raddysh logged a career-high five assists and became the first defenseman in Lightning franchise history to do this. He also tied a franchise record for assists in a single period with three in the opening…
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