Once Upon A Time In Las Vegas – Divisional Round
The Tampa Bay Lightning (29-14-0-1, 21-23 PL, 20-17 O/U) meet with the Calgary Flames (21-16-6-3, 18-28 PL, 20-25 O/U) in an inter-conference showdown on Saturday afternoon. The Lightning were hit with a road loss by the Oilers on Thursday. The Flames were dealt an ugly home loss by the Avalanche on Wednesday night. The Lightning posted a 4-1 home win against the Flames in November.
The Tampa Bay Lightning conclude a five-game road trek. It’s been a successful one, beating Seattle, and Vancouver, but came up short in a 5-3 road loss against the Oilers on Thursday night to end a five-game winning streak. Tampa Bay is again a contender to win the Cup and seems to be getting better as the season progresses. The Lightning stand at 7-3 in their last ten games.
Nikita Kucherov is in a groove, recording 10 points in his last six games including an assist in Thursday’s loss. The 29-year-old star has collected a remarkable 65 points on the season, marking him third in the NHL. Kucherov netted two goals against the Flames in November. Steven Stamkos scored his 500th career goal in Wednesday’s victory against Vancouver with a hat trick. The veteran captain now has 21 goals and 31 assists on the season. Stamkos has two points against the Flames. Brayden Point continues to dazzle, accumulating nine points in his last five games. The 26-year-old center has 12 points this month and 49 on the season.
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— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) January 20, 2023
The Lightning will likely have Andrei Vasilevskiy guard the cage again. The veteran keeper was in the net in Thursday’s 5-3 loss and is having yet another outstanding season, recording a 2.50 GAA and a .917 save % accompanied by a 20-11-1 record. Backup Brian Elliot has a 3.07 GAA and a .903 save %. Tampa Bay is scoring an average of 3.6 goals, good for fifth. They are limiting opponents to 2.9 goals, placing them 12th.