After a successful four-game road trip, the Tampa Bay Lightning are returning for some home cooking when they host the rival Florida Panthers on Monday night.
The Lightning earned five points during their four contests in Toronto, Montreal, New Jersey and Long Island. They went 2-1-1 while dropping the final one, 3-2, in a shootout against the New York Islanders on Saturday.
The club saw part of its defensive unit get nicked up as Emil Lilleberg, the only Tampa Bay defenseman to play in every game, was injured in the third period when the Islanders’ Kyle MacLean fell hard on the Norwegian’s left ankle.
Lilleberg headed to the dressing room, did not return and is listed as day-to-day.
Despite many injuries on the blue line, ranging from their captain (Victor Hedman) to their most seasoned defenseman (Ryan McDonagh) to their most physical one (Erik Cernak), the Lightning have found a way to keep winning games against almost every team except the Islanders, who claimed all three meetings by a combined score of 7-3 in a 12-day span.
Coach Jon Cooper said playing a group like the vastly improved Islanders will pay benefits later.
“We’re on the road and held a first-place team to one shot in one period and seven shots total in the final two periods,” Cooper said. “It’s tough (getting just one point), but sometimes you run into a team that has your number on the scoreboard.”
A few Tampa Bay defensemen enjoyed big nights: Darren Raddysh scored his career-high seventh goal to complete his first three-game goal streak while J.J. Moser notched his second goal.
The Panthers’ visit will be the second of four meeting between the Sunshine State foes and, while the Lightning won the first meeting 3-1 on Nov. 15 in Sunrise, the Panthers are buoyed for the rematch by one of their finest performances thus far.
After being dominated 6-2 by the NHL-leading Colorado Avalanche on Thursday night, Florida throttled the Dallas Stars on Saturday night in Texas.
Sergei Bobrovsky backstopped his 52nd career shutout to tie Tuukka Rask for 27th all-time and improve his career mark against the Western Conference’s second-best club to 21-2-2 with his third shutout.
“He’s the best goalie in the league,” said Panthers forward Brad Marchand. “He shows up night in and night out. … He’s the backbone of this team.”
It was a complete turnaround from the Denver disappointment and the first time Florida crafted a shutout in the Lone Star State since 2011.
“I think we had jump early, it was pretty noticeable,” said Sam Reinhart, who had two assists and played strong defensively as the Stars managed a season-low 15 shots. “We just went back to basics. They’re one of the best teams in the league for a reason. … We focused on the defensive side first and that created some chances.”
The two-time defending Stanley Cup champs improved to 9-2-1 this season following a loss and registered their sixth straight win over the Central Division standouts.
Marchand increased his team-leading totals in goals (18) and points (34) with two tallies and an assist.
“We knew we weren’t up to par in Colorado,” said the 37-year-old Marchand. “This is the second-best team in the West. I like how we responded. That’s what (we’re) really good at.”
The Panthers are 14-6-0 in the past 20 matchups with Tampa Bay.
