Game 3: Tampa Bay Lightning (1-1-0) At Carolina Hurricanes (0-1-0)

The Carolina Hurricanes were expected to be one of the darkhorse teams in the Eastern Conference last year. But after a 5-1 thrashing in their opening night game, its clear this still have some work to do. The Lightning meanwhile, are already off to the Dr Jekyll/Mr Hyde bit that to often derailed their season last year. After blowing out the Capitals, one of the best teams in the Eastern conference, the Lightning fell behind 4-0 against one of the worst. then came storming back to close withing 4-3, but fell short. Consistency will be the key to a short season, so it will be important to get back on track.

one of the bright points of the season so far for the Lightning has been the penalty kill. There seems to be some disagreement over whether or not the Islanders first goal yesterday was a power play goal, but if it was the Lightning are 9/11 on the PK, if it wasnt they are 10/11, either way its not too shabby. The Hurricanes meanwhile, had an awful penalty kill in their first game, allowing three power play goals in six chances.

The Hurricanes actually outshot the Panthers 44-25 in their 5-1 loss Saturday nights, while the Lightning are giving up 37 shots per game over their first two games, and alarmingly high number. On the power play front the Lightning are 3/10 this year on that front, the Hurricanes have yet to score a power play goal.

This game worries me for a myriad of reasons. Its a back to back for the Bolts, while the Hurricanes have had two nights of rest. We may see some fatigue from Tampa tonight due to it being the first back to back of the year and they are still probably not in top shape yet. Expect Mathieu Garon to get his first start of the season. Last time we saw Garon was back in March when he was playing the best hockey of his career, before pulling a groin and being lost for the season. When he went down the Lightning were just two points out of the playoffs but faded once he got hurt.

Martin St Louis has got off to a hot start to the 2013 campaign, with three goals and two assists in the first two games. He had a down year last year leading some to believe age was catching up to the former MVP of the league, but it appears hes not quite done yet.

Around the southeast division: The Jets and Capitals will face off in a division matchup, both looking for their first victory of the season. The Panthers head to Montreal looking to rebound from their own loss at Ottawa yesterday.

Update: Mathieu Garon is confirmed to be the starter tonight.