Tuesday evening on the NHL ice and the Atlantic Division will square off with the Central Division as the Tampa Bay Lightning will duke it out with the St Louis Blues at Enterprise Center in St Louis, Missouri. The Blues won both meetings between these teams last year. Tampa Bay enters this game at 9-8 on the year while the Blues enter this game at 12-9.
Comeback Falls Short Against The Jets
The Tampa Bay Lightning have not had a great start after leading the league in points last year. The Bolts have won three of their last four games but they are still just 9-8 on the young season and in 5th place in the Atlantic Division. the Bolts trail the first-place Bruins by nine points. The offense has been there as usual for the Bolts, but they have been struggling on the other end of the ice of late, having allowed 3.86 gpg over their last seven games. They need their play at that end of the ice to improve or they could be in trouble this year. The Bolts are off a 4-3 loss to the Jets at home and after trailing 3-1 in the 3rd they made a valiant comeback effort only to fall short. Anthony Cirelli made the game very interesting by scoring with just 22 seconds left in regulation. It was his 2nd of the year. Also scoring in the loss was Victor Hedman, which was his 6th of the year and Steven Stamkos, which was his 7th of the year and the 400th of his career.On Stamkos: “He’s an elite player in this league and that’s why he’s continued to do what he does every single season. I’m happy I’m on the other end of it because it stinks when he’s teeing them up and scoring goals when you’re facing him.”#WPGvsTBL | Pat Maroon: pic.twitter.com/E58xsT7VPF
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) November 17, 2019
Absorbing the loss to the Jets was Andrei Vasilevskiy, who allowed three goals on 26 shot attempts to fall to 7-5 with a 3.02 GAA on the year, while out on the road he has gone 0-5 with a 4.10 GAA. In his career, he has gone 55-44 with a 2.50 GAA on the road and 17-13 with a 2.30 GAA during the month of November, plus 3-2 with a 2./10 GAA against the Blues. Tampa Bay leads the league in scoring, putting up 3.71 gpg while allowing 3.47 gpg, which is 25th in the league.
The Blues Are Looking To Get Back On Track
The St Louis Blues are in first place in the Central Division by three points over the surprising Colorado Avalanche but they are not playing all that well at the moment. St Louis enters this game off a tough 4-1 home loss to the Anaheim Ducks and it was their 3rd loss in a row after they had rattled off seven wins in a row. The Blues have allowed just 2.33 gpg over their last nine games, but the offense has sputtered of late as they have scored a total of five goals in their last three games. St Louis does not have a great offense but they will need it to step up here as the Bolts have the Best offense in the league. If they don't find some scoring, then it could be a long night for them. Scoring their lone goal in the loss to the Ducks was Vince Dunn, which was his 3rd goal of the year.Ryan O'Reilly and David Perron discuss tonight's game vs. Anaheim. #stlblues pic.twitter.com/5Bl3qlFEhm
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) November 17, 2019
Absorbing the loss to the Ducks was Jordan Binnington who allowed three goals on 24 shot attempts to fall to 9-7 with a 2.40 GAA on the year, including 5-4 with a 2.18 GAA here at home. In his career, he has gone 19-6 with a 2.10 GAA here at Enterprise Center and 3-2 with a 2.14 during the month of November, plus 2-0 with a 1.45 GAA against the Lightning.The Blues enter this game ranked 17th in the league in scoring at 2.96 gpg and 9th in goals allowed, giving up 2.81 gpg.
Team Trends
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Trends Are Courtesy Of Covers.com Tampa Bay is:
- 3-7 in their last 10 games as a road favorite
- 0-5 in their last 5 vs. the Central
St Louis is:
- 25-12 in their last 37 vs. the Atlantic
- 14-6 in their last 20 after scoring 2 goals or less in their previous game.
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