Lightning at Hurricanes
Two-time Rocket Richard Trophy winner Steven Stamkos is showing a new side to his game as a setup man and the Tampa Bay captain hopes to continue an early-season point barrage when the Lightning visit the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday. Stamkos, who has recorded 324 goals in 595 NHL games, boasts league-bests of 15 assists and 18 points in nine games after missing most of 2016-17 with a knee injury.
“I said coming into the year, a healthy, hungry Steven Stamkos is really good for us and bad for the rest of the league,” Tampa Bay right wing Ryan Callahan told the Tampa Bay Times. “I think he’s showing that. He’s our leader. We go by his example, and he’s leading in the right way.” The Lightning have points in seven straight games (6-0-1) with Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov (10 goals overall - tied for the NHL lead with Alex Ovechkin) and goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy (.933 save percentage on the season) leading the way while Carolina is tied for the fewest games played (six) after finishing a road trip 2-2-0. The Hurricanes have not gotten off to a great start offensively, but left wing Jeff Skinner owns five goals (six points) in the early going after recording a career-high 37 in 2016-17. “He’s been dangerous for a long time now,” Carolina coach Bill Peters told the Raleigh News & Observer. “. … He gets the puck in good spots and works hard in the offensive zone, so he’s getting rewarded for that.”
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN Sun (Tampa Bay), FSN Carolinas
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (7-1-1): Stamkos’ assist total is way up due in part to his linemate Kucherov, who is off to a blistering start while notching at least one goal in eight games, while both have a point in all nine contests. “When you got a guy like ‘Kuch’ on your line - there’s probably a lot of people yelling at me to shoot the puck more - but he’s so hot, you just try to get him the puck,” Stamkos said. Rookie defenseman Mikhail Sergachev has eight points - six in the last three games - and is expected to play his 10th game Tuesday, which would officially trigger the use of the first of a three-year entry level contract.
ABOUT THE HURRICANES (3-2-1): Skinner is the only player with more than two goals, but Jordan Staal (two) and fellow veteran forward Justin Williams (one) each have five points. Carolina must get more from a trio of forwards off to slow starts - Sebastian Aho (no goals, three assists), Teuvo Teravainen (two goals) and Victor Rask (one, one) - while defenseman Justin Faulk has not scored after notching a career-high 17 goals last season and 48 in the last three campaigns. The Hurricanes have allowed 27 or fewer shots in five of six games with the only outlier being Cam Ward’s 48-save performance in a 5-3 victory at Edmonton last Tuesday.
OVERTIME
1. Carolina F Elias Lindholm is slated to play his 300th NHL game Tuesday and is one assist shy of 100 for his career.
2. Stamkos notched his 113th power-play goal in Saturday’s 7-1 victory over Pittsburgh, passing Vincent Lecavalier for the most in franchise history.
3. The Lightning have earned at least a point in six straight meetings (5-0-1), but lost 1-0 in overtime at Carolina last season.