Game 8: New York Rangers (3-4-0) At Tampa Bay Lightning (6-1-0)

A scorching hot start to the season has got Bolts fans pumped about the prospects of this years team, and tonight they begin a five game stretch that will tell us more just how serious this team is about contending this year. There is no doubt tonights game against the Rangers will be the toughest test of the season so far. Despite their slow start to the season the Rangers are still the odds on favorite to win the Eastern conference this year, and have the best goalie in the league between the pipes. So how will the best offense in the league fare against the best goalie in the league? Im excited to find out, and history says pretty well.  Ludqvist has a subpar by his standards 2.79 GAA in his last seven starts against the Bolts, and a 1-6 record to go with it. I cant really blame some people for being a tad skeptical for the Lightnings start, only three of the first six wins came against playoff potential teams, and two of those three teams played their backup goalie against the Bolts. The other one, the Caps, is off to an ice cold start. Still, 5.3 GPG sustained over a seven game stretch is simply stunning and can not be overlooked.

There is no doubt part of the improvement from this year over last year is the defensive improvement. Sami Salo and Matt Carle were huge additions and have really shored up the defensive ineptitude. Not to mention last years duds Eric Brewer and Victor Hedman have stepped up their games in a major way this year.

Matt Garon will be earning just his second start of the season, his first being ten days ago at Carolina when he allowed just one goal in a 4-1 Bolts win. This will be Garons first home start since March 8th when he pulled his groin and was lost for the season.

One of the biggest differences between these two teams this year have been the power play. The Rangers have managed only 3 PP goals, while the Bolts have put up 12 after their three last night. Obviously if you get dominated in the special teams category, you are not winning many games. The Rangers have a special team index of just 91.3 while the Lightnings special team index is 116.7, a massive difference.

Im not one into giving predictions for hockey games because they are often so unpredictable but I have a gut feeling this game will go to overtime, probably at 2, but maybe at 3. Just a feeling. Obviously playing the Rangers is always a bit emotional for Bolts fans as the Rangers head coach is John Tortella who coached the Lightning to their Stanley Cup, and the Rangers also feature Brad Richards who was the MVP of the Playoffs for the Lightning when they won the cup.

Head to Head
Goals Per Game: Rangers: 2.29 (22nd in NHL) Lightning: 5.29 (1st in NHL by a huge margin)
Goals Against Per Game: Rangers: 2.86 (18th in NHL) Lightning 2.57 (11th in NHL)
Shots per game: Rangers: 29.3 (14th in NHL) Lightning: 28.7 (18th in NHL)
Shots against per game: Rangers: 29.7 (18th in NHL) Lightning: 32.6 (24th in NHL)
Save Percentage: Rangers: .904 (15th in NHL) Lightning: .921 (8th in NHL)
Power play: Rangers: 10.7% (26th in NHL) Lightning: 34.3 (3rd in NHL)
Penalty Kill: Rangers: 80.6% (15th in NHL) Lightning: 82.4 (11th in NHL)

Around the southeast: The only other southeast team in action tonight is the Hurricanes who are in Philly to face the Flyers.