Road Magic vs. Home Surge: Rangers Meet Lightning in Tampa
It's another night of hockey in Tampa Bay, and we have two teams riding some serious momentum going at it tomorrow. The New York Rangers at long last gave Madison Square Garden a night to celebrate with their first home win of the season and look to continue their magic on the road. The Tampa Bay Lightning have found their groove early in the season, and they look to defend home ice against New York. A night that could determine some serious momentum as the New York Rangers head south to take on the Tampa Bay Lightning tomorrow night in Benchmark International Arena at 7:00 p.m. EST.
The story of the season for the Rangers continues to be whether they can generate some consistent offense outside of their top performers. They've made it clear that when they score three or more goals, they can easily put the game away; it's their struggle in fading in those tight-checking one-goal battles that they need to fix. Artemi Panarin remains their driver of attack, and when he's on the puck, New York's offense opens significantly. New York also looks to rely on their transition game as they stretch the zone and attempt to catch their opponents flat-footed with quick counters. Special teams will also matter, as their power play still requires some improvement.
Tampa Bay comes home with some confident hockey, and with their top scoring threats being reliable, they'll undoubtedly be dangerous tomorrow night. Tampa has historically performed well against New York at home, especially in the postseason. With their ability to force opponents into long defensive zone shifts, they can easily control this match. If they can control the boards and establish a cycle game early on, they may just give the Rangers trouble finding pace.
Like always, goaltending could be the deciding factor as two stellar goaltenders match up yet again. A matchup between goaltenders Igor Shesterkin and Andrei Vasilevskiy is always one for the history books, making tomorrow night almost a guarantee to be a close game. If Shesterkin can build off the momentum from last night's performance, their road magic may just continue. Don't mistake Tampa, though; they find the first goal, and this crowd energy will most likely make them a team not likely to slow down at all. Fans are in for a good one tomorrow night. Will the energy in Tampa be too much for the Blueshirts, or will their road magic save them once more with yet another win on the road?
