The Vancouver Canucks have won three of their past four games and have looked like a good in those wins. Here are three keys to victory over the league leading Lightning.
Coming off of a two goal performance from the Canucks newest sniper Brendan Gaunce, the Canucks should be feeling pretty good about themselves. With wins over the Blackhawks, Avalanche and Kings. Sorry, I have forgot about the Sabres game but I don’t plan on remembering it.
The Canucks should be feeling pretty good about being completely healthy and playing some good hockey that would compare to the hot start to the beginning of the season. The Tampa Bay Lightning however are a tall task, as they will show up to Rogers arena sitting atop the league standings with 73 points.
Ya, they are better than Vegas…
This Lightning team has been dominant since game one of the season, with superstars like Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov and Victor Hedman. Obviously hockey fans are aware that this Lightning team has as good of a chance of any to make the Stanley Cup final this season.
The good news is that Kucherov hasn’t scored in nine games, Stamkos has two goals in his past 13 games and the Lightning have lost four of their last eight though are coming off of a seven to four shellacking of the Calgary Flames on Thursday night.
The Lightning are first in the league for goals scored and the Canucks currently sit in 25th, so trying to match up and run and gun with an offensive powerhouse like the Lightning would be a terrible mistake.
For the Canucks to succeed they will have to do as the Philadelphia Eagles will have to on Sunday and play 100% without making mistakes. Luckily the Lightning don’t have a Tom Brady level player on their team but Kucherov and Stamkos may be the best one-two punch we’ve seen since Mike Tyson in the 90’s.
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Shutting down the Dynamic Duo
With Kucherov not scoring his past nine games he is clearly due for an offensive out break, Canucks fans will be hoping it will not be at Rogers arena. The team will have to commit to blocking shots and being aware of Kucherov every second of the game.
The problem is that no matter how much you want to watch Kucherov all game you’ve also got one of the best snipers in the NHL over the past eight years in Steven Stamkos.
If the Canucks can somehow find a way to shut down these two Art Ross candidates they will be able to stand a chance against the best team in the league. I just don’t know if that’s possible, if the Lightning get off to a hot start there will be no looking back and just as it happened with the Flames, this could be a stats game for “Kuch” and “Stammer”.
Lean on the power play
If the Lightning have a weakness, and trust me it was hard to find one. It’s their penalty kill, as they seem to be top 10 in almost every statistical category. The penalty kill is currently 22nd in the NHL and currently sits with a 78.7% kill percentage. The Canucks will have to lean on their recent success on the powerplay, get the put to the net and let Brock Boeser shoot as much as possible.
The powerplay has taken strides to becoming one of the leagues best due to the fact that teams are on watch for Boeser now. If he’s not shooting the puck he is drawing players away form the Sedins which gives them more opportunities to try and strike up some classic “Sedinery”.
Hope for a goalie to steal a game
In the end a goaltender can steal and game, though Canucks fans haven’t seen that happen in some time Jacob Markstrom and Anders Nilsson have stolen games this season. I would predict that Markstrom would get the start against the Lightning but there is also a good chance that Nilsson plays.
Though not a ton, there has been a bit of a rumbling going around about Nilsson maybe being moved at the deadline and therefore bringing up Thatcher Demko to play some games at the end of the season.
It can be done! The Canucks have some confidence right now and with everyone back and healthy its a god time to run into the best team in the league, but is it ever a good time to run into the best team in the league? Probably not.
Predictions
Scott Rosenhek
5-3 Lightning. Brendan Gaunce had his best game as a Canuck on Thursday, potting in a pair of goals that were no luck, all skill. I think he gets another tonight. Boeser is still in a slump with three goals in 2018. He pots in a pair. Stamkos, Kucherov, Point, and the amount of depth that the Lightning has will overwhelm the Canucks. The team beat a Blackhawks team on the decline, but it’s unlikely they beat the best team in the NHL.
Alex Hoegler
4-3 Lightning. Tampa is the best team in the league because they’re dangerous in every aspect. Superior speed and depth propel them to a close victory. Call it a moral loss for the Canucks.
Isha Jahromi
5-3 Lightning. The Canucks will look good offensively like in the last few games, but our defense from both ends of the ice is not match for Tampa’s offensive weapons.
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Chris Faber
I’m predicting that the lighting will win 6-3, Kucherov will break out of his slump and score a couple goals. Boeser will score a powerplay goal and Troy Stetcher will add a goal from the point as I think he is playing good offensively and should be given an opportunity on the powerplay soon.