The Tampa Bay Lightning face the Florida Panthers with both teams hoping to start the season strong. The Lightning have a 1-3 record and have stumbled to start the season despite being one of the league's best teams. The Panthers meanwhile have a 3-1 record and are near the top of the Atlantic Division. Both teams are looking to boost their records in the Atlantic Division and the Eastern Conference and the upcoming game should be a great one as a result.
The Lightning are off to a slow start with their offense scoring only 10 goals in their first four games. While Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov, and Brayden Point have combined for seven goals and seven assists to lead the top two lines, the rest of the offense has struggled. The hope is that defensemen Victor Hedman and Mikhail Sergachev can start to find the back of the net as they have contributed five assists but have yet to score a goal this season.
The offense has struggled but the defense has let the Lightning down early on this season, allowing 3.50 goals per game with nine goals in the last two games. Victor Hedman and Mikhail Sergachev have led the top pairings but the rest of the defense has struggled, allowing opponents to find open shots on the net with ease. The bright spot has been the play of goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy who has a .912 save percentage and a 2.73 goals-against a verage on 91 shots.