Carolina Hurricanes at Tampa Bay Lightening: Preview and Game Thread

The makeup game from October is finally happening

Two teams that have been scuffling lately face off tonight in Tampa in a game that should have happened way back in October.

You may recall that after the Hurricanes lost to the Lightening in the season opener on October 11th, they were supposed to fly down to Tampa and play a home opener-and-home opener. Hurricane Milton changed that, and Tampa spent about a week in the Triangle—in Chapel Hill to be exact—and both sides waited until the game would be rescheduled.

The problem with rescheduling is that the NHL schedule is so tightly coordinated among all entities that finding an opening that would be “perfect” is impossible. Thus, a stretch for the Canes that supposed to be five games in a row at home with a three day off stretch from Sunday to Thursday has turned into a quick road trip down to Tampa. Meanwhile, Tampa was due to get three days off after spending the New Year in California, instead they still have the jet lag of getting back from Anaheim early Monday and adjusting to being back in Florida.

So in short it was equally inconvenient for both squads.

Canes fans know about the ups and downs the team has had the last few weeks. Trying to string together two wins in a row has been tough, and it hasn’t happened since beating Columbus on December 15th and the Islanders on the 17th. For every great win against the Rangers and Panthers, there’s a shootout loss to the Blue Jackets and the complete no show against the Wild. That no show continued into the first period Sunday before the team exploded for three goals against the Penguins, and ultimately won in overtime. The difference in that game versus others is that the primary scoring came from the line of Sebastian Aho, Jack Roslovic, and Seth Jarvis. There’s hope that the last game will be a spark they need to ignite the rest of the season.

The Lightning team they face also has been going through it. That California trip they just completed was winless. That means losses—in regulation—to Anaheim and San Jose. Even their last game before the trip was a 5-2 beatdown by Montreal. Overall they’ve lost five of their last seven, and haven’t put up more than one goal in their last three. They are teetering at the top of the Wild Card standings, and the last place Buffalo Sabres are just seven points away from them

So yes, if you’re doing the math that means the Canes at nine points ahead of the Penguins from third to fourth in the Metropolitan division are further ahead in their division than the Lightning are from last place in the East.

It’s a welcome perspective to have, because as frustrating as the up and down nature of the season has been lately it’s a reminder that the Canes are still just six points out of first place Washington, and are only three points from second with three games in hand on the Devils. The Canes have a chance to finish the month strong and go into the 4 Nations break with some momentum.

After morning skate, it appears there won’t be any changes for the Canes in the lineup. That means William Carrier is still out. Little surprise that Pyotr Kochetkov is in net, likely hoping his team doesn’t hang him out to dry like they did against Minnesota Saturday night.

If you aren’t in the Tampa area or are and just can’t make it tonight, here’s how you can catch the action:

• Time: 7:00 PM ET
• Location: Amalie Arena, Tampa, FL
• TV: FanDuel Sports Network South with Mike Maniscalco, play-by-play; Tripp Tracy, color analyst; Hanna Yates, in-game reporter
• Radio: 99.9 The Fan
• Line: ML: CAR -120; PL: CAR -1.5 +200