Panthers at Lightning
The Tampa Bay Lightning return to Amalie Arena after an eventful 2-2-0 road trip and face the Sunshine State rival Florida Panthers on Wednesday for the first time since opening night to start a five-game homestand. Tampa Bay, which earned a 2-1 shootout victory over the Panthers on Oct. 6, won a pair of wild games in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia before coming up short 3-2 despite a furious finish Monday in Nashville.
“To be honest, I thought we would tie that game and win,” Lightning goalie Louis Domingue told reporters. “It’s one of those nights where it just didn’t quite bounce for us at the end. … Most of the time we’re going to win those games. The Lightning lost No. 1 goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy (foot) to injury early in the trip, scored four power-play goals in Pittsburgh, blew a four-goal lead in Philadelphia before winning in overtime and outshot Nashville 14-5 in the third period. Florida earned its sixth win in eight games Monday with a 7-5 triumph at Ottawa, but lost a key player indefinitely as center Vincent Trocheck went down with a serious leg injury. The Panthers will need even more from their top players as left wing Mike Hoffman boasts a 16-game point streak and right wing Evgenii Dadonov has hit the scoresheet in 14 of his last 15 contests.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FS Florida, FS Sun (Tampa Bay)
ABOUT THE PANTHERS (8-7-3): Trocheck had three goals and 11 assists in 18 games before the injury and was coming off career highs of 31 tallies and 75 points in 2017-18. “We know it’s not going to be a short-term thing, by the looks of it,” Panthers coach Bob Boughner told reporters of Trocheck. “He’s an important piece to the puzzle in there. He’s one of our leaders; the guy that plays with a lot of passion every night.” Captain Aleksander Barkov recorded four goals and four assists in the last seven games while defenseman Keith Yandle is tied with him at 17 points - two behind Hoffman and Dadonov.
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (14-6-1): Domingue has faced a barrage of shots during some loose play by Tampa Bay since taking over in Buffalo to start the trip, turning aside 116 of 129 shots (.899 save percentage). Center Brayden Point stayed hot with two assists in Nashville after scoring five times in the previous two games and leads the team with 14 goals and 26 points while boasting a plus-7 rating. Right wing Nikita Kucherov has six of his 24 points in the last three games (one goal) and versatile forward Yanni Gourde gives the Lightning three players with 20 points (eight goals, 12 assists).
OVERTIME
1. Florida F Juho Lammikko tied a franchise record with four assists Monday and could get more playing time with Trocheck out.
2. Tampa Bay D Erik Cernak, who is replacing injured D Anton Stralman (upper body), notched his first NHL point Monday (assist).
3. The Lightning have earned at least a point in six of the last seven games (5-1-1) against the Panthers.