TAMPA, FL. – The Tampa Bay Lightning will finally be back at Amalie Arena on Wednesday night when they host the Oilers.
It will be the Lightning’s first home game since February 1 when they defeated San Jose in overtime.
Tampa Bay has since played three games, each on the road and each of the rescheduled variety during what would have been a two-week Olympic break. With the NHL not having participated in Beijing, the window was used to make up games that were postponed due to the virus. The Lightning lost to Colorado on February 10, defeated Arizona the following night and downed New Jersey last Tuesday evening.
The Lightning, who are second in the Atlantic Division with 70 points and five points behind the Panthers, will be playing Edmonton at Amalie for the first time since February 13, 2020. Yanni Gourde’s shorthanded goal at 13:01 of the second period was the difference in a 3-1 win that night.
The Oilers arrive in Tampa with 59 points (50 games) and are third in the Pacific Division. Terribly inconsistent this season, Edmonton was hot right out of the gate in winning nine of their first 10 games. December was another story as they had a six-game losing streak and seven-game winless streak during the month.
Connor McDavid, who did not play in the aforementioned 2020 game in Tampa due to injury and who last played at Amalie Arena in November 2018 when he was pointless and a minus-2 in a 5-2 Bolts win, is the league’s second-leading scorer with 71 points. Teammate Leon Draisaitl is right behind him with 70 points, and leads the league in goals with 35. McDavid has 26 goals and his 45 assists are good for second in the NHL.
Wednesday night’s game will be broadcast nationally on TNT starting at 7:30.
The Lightning, who have picked up at least one point in 10 of their last 12 games, are 16-4-4 at home. Steven Stamkos’ 23 goals pace a squad that has seven players with at least 10 goals. Victor Hedman, who has 11 goals, is third among the league’s defensemen in assists (39) and points (50).
Following Wednesday night’s game, the Lightning will travel to Nashville to play their first outdoor game. They will meet the Predators at Nissan Stadium, home of the Tennessee Titans.
The schedule will then get very heavy as March opens with three games in four days at Amalie Arena. Ottawa is in town March 1, Pittsburgh on March 3, the Penguins’ first visit since opening night, and Detroit on March 4. The Lightning then play 10 of 11 on the road thanks in part to the SEC men’s basketball tourney (March 9-13) being played at Amalie.
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