Tampa BAE Lightning Game 61: It's An Emotional Game

The Tampa Bay Lightning don’t have long to lick their wounds after losing to the Florida Panthers as they will be getting right back on the ice to take on the Columbus Blue Jackets inside Amalie Arena at 7 PM.

This will be the 3rd and final regular season match up for the Bolts & Blue Jackets. The series is split with CBJ winning 7-6 OT on Nov 21 then winning 5-3 in Tampa on December 17th.

I feel like this game is going to be a crazy wave of emotions. Why?

• CBJ is having an improbably successful year of hockey. They lost their shining star in a tragic accident before the season even began. They had every right to tank this year and no one would have wondered why, but here they are. Fighting for a playoff spot. It’s just incredible to see. They’re riding a 4 game winning streak including a big win over Detroit in an emotionally charged outdoor game in one of the most famous CFB stadiums. They’re all kinds of fun to watch. And it’s hard to root against them.
• On the opposite end of the ice, you’ll have a tired Lightning team who is likely going to be very frustrated that their Power Play was 0-7 in the previous game. They’re going to want to prove people wrong. That’s probably not great news if you’re the 25th ranked PK Team like CBJ is.
• And, of course, we can never forget what happened 5 years ago. Both teams are entirely different now, but still man. That hurt. And you just don’t wipe that away for either team.

To top it all off, we have the next chapter in the JoJo back up goalie saga. The guy hasn’t played in a solid month. He dropped the 7-6 OT game earlier in the season. Does he come back feeling strong, confident, and ready to back stop the Bolts to a win? Or does he come in shaky, unsure, and maybe a little too jittery leading to a let down game while he finds his stride again?

Tomorrow a hockey game will be played in Tampa. And I think the team that wins is the one that does the best job at rallying those emotions. The Lightning are a good team. In fact, they are going to be the better team on paper. But can they drop that loss and stay out of their head? Or will the Panthers beat them two days in a row? Can they overcome the high that the Blue Jackets are going to be riding? Will they bring them back down to Earth?

I’m not sure, but I can’t wait to finally be back in Amalie to see what happens. See you at 7!

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