Game Preview: New York Islanders-Tampa Bay Lightning 11/15
The Islanders and Lightning will face each other for the first time this season.
[sc name=”leenaminbanner” ][/sc]The New York Islanders and Tampa Bay Lightning, who have played each other in the last two Eastern Conference Finals, will meet for the first time this season on Monday.
Both of these teams, who have been two of the best teams in the NHL over the past two years or so, had slow starts to the season, but have looked much better lately.
For the second-straight season, the Lightning lost their superstar forward, Nikita Kucherov, to a long-term injury. They also saw many of their players, including their entire third line, leave during the offseason.
After a period of adjustment, the Lightning are beginning to look like themselves. Their offense and power play have been average, but are improving by the week. Their overall defense has been about average, as well, but that’s also improving.
Their penalty kill has been their greatest strength in the young season: it’s top-10 in the league.
Unfortunately for the Islanders, they’re not quite in as good of a position as the Lightning right now. They have a bottom-five offense and power play in the league.
They’re one of the very best defensive teams and their penalty kill is good, but not as great as it usually is, and not as good as Tampa Bay’s.
The Islanders also come into this game on a two-game losing streaks, both of which were ugly losses. They’ll look to rebound in this key game on Monday.
The good news is that that the Islanders have been off since Thursday. The hope is the extra rest and practice did them well.
Islanders players to watch:
LW Zach Parise
Career vs. TBL: 36 GP, 15 G (6 PP), 28 PTS
C Mathew Barzal
Career vs. TBL: 9 GP, 2 G (1 PP), 9 PTS
Lightning players to watch:
C Steven Stamkos
This season: 13 GP, 7 G (3 PP), 15 PTS
Career vs. NYI: 37 GP, 16 G (3 PP), 39 PTS
C Alex Killorn
This season: 13 GP, 7 G, 13 PTS
C Brayden Point
This season: 13 GP, 5 G, 10 PTS
LHD Victor Hedman
This season: 13 GP, 2 G (1 PP), 11 PTS
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Leen has written about the MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL, and international soccer. She is currently the primary NHL writer for ESNY. Leen's work has been featured on Bleacher Report and she was formerly a contributor for FanSided's New York Mets blog, Rising Apple. She is a co-host of the Yankees-Mets Express podcast.
