Tampa BAE Lightning Game 26: Not the notification you were hoping for

Until USF hires their coach, please accept my apologies that this isn’t the BAE news article you were hoping for. Until we get the big news, let’s enjoy some Lightning hockey!

The Tampa Bay Lightning are back on the ice tonight at 7 p.m. to take on the New York Islanders inside UBS Arena. This is the first of three regular season match-ups between the two teams.

The Isles are off to a tough start as they currently sit outside of a playoff spot and are riding a three game losing streak. While the current picture isn’t that exciting, Islander fans have a big reason for optimism: Matthew Schaefer.

Schaefer is the Islanders rookie defenseman that has just been electric. He is 2nd on the team in points, 3rd in goals, and is a +7 while the logging the most ice time minutes of any skater. The kid is the real deal and, if he stays long term, is the kind of player that can elevate a franchise.

While the Islanders have netted 75 total goals this year, their power play is just plain bad—much like the Lightning—they are converting on the extra man advantage about 15% of the time. The PK has been OK with an 82% success rate putting them just outside the Top 10 in the league. The inability to score on special teams is definitely a hindrance to their success.

The Islanders have also gotten not great goal tending from starter Ilya Sorokin. In fact, things got so bad in net that they fired their goalie coach and promoted one from the AHL just six games into the season. Overall, Sorokin is 7-8-2 this season with a 2.67 GAA & .900 SV%. Now, not all of this is on his performance, as his defense can be inconsistent in front of him, but he’s not stealing games like he used to for this team. At least not yet.

The Islanders are also going to have to finish out the season without Kyle Palmieri taking the ice for them as he just suffered a season ending injury. Palmieri was third on the team with 18 points. That’s a tough loss for their roster.

The Lightning come into this game rested and on a hot streak while the Islanders are looking to gain some stability and right the ship. I think this is a winnable game for the Bolts—no question. But, an eight game win streak is a mighty hard thing to maintain. At some point, the universe catches up with you and you drop a stinker. Vasy had one against Detroit the other day, but his team bailed him out. The Lightning are on the tail end of a three game road trip. If there were ever a time for a stinker, this might be it.

That said, I still like the Lightning tonight. See you at 7. Go Bolts!