Where: Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
THE STORY: The Lightning have defeated the Rangers in five of the last six meetings – including three straight in New York. Both teams’ power plays are struggling. The Rangers have converted 4 for 65 opportunities in the last 24 games while the Lightning are 6 for 63 over 21.
TV: 7 p.m. ET; SunSports (Tampa), MSG (New York).
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (23-24-5): There is still hope for the Lightning, but a poor road trip would hurt their chances badly. The road trip continues in Buffalo and Pittsburgh on the weekend. All-Star Steven Stamkos scored his league-leading 35th goal on his 22nd birthday Tuesday in the loss to Los Angeles, the first regulation defeat in eight games for Tampa Bay. Stamkos is four points behind league-leader Evgeni Malkin and leads the goal-scoring race by five. Martin St. Louis’ nine-game point streak is over. He had six goals and 16 points in that span. The Lightning could get power forward Ryan Malone back from injury.
ABOUT THE RANGERS (33-13-5): The Rangers are led by All-Star goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, who has a Vezina Trophy-worthy numbers – six shutouts, 1.80 goals-against average and .939 save percentage. There is also plenty of room for improvement on offense. Standout center Brad Richards has just one goal and three points in his last 12 games. Versatile forward Brandon Dubinsky has one goal in nine games and just six overall this season. Dubinsky, who netted 24 last season, was dropped to the fourth line. All-Star Marian Gaborik leads the team with 26 goals and 43 points.
OVERTIME
1. Three of the last five meetings have gone past regulation – all won by the Lightning.
2. Rangers defenseman Michael Del Zotto has 26 points and a team-best plus-26.
3. The Lightning are 8-16-3 on the road, but have won their last two.
PREDICTION: Rangers 4, Lightning 2.
Related posts:
NHL - NHL Free Picks: Rangers vs Devils and Caps vs Lightning (Tony Finn) 
0
NHL - NHL betting preview: Flyers vs Rangers (Tony Finn) 0
NHL - Rangers bench RW Gaborik, hope to boost production (James Payton) 0
NHL - NHL betting feature: Pittsburgh at NY Rangers (Tony Finn) 0
NHL - Rangers offensive woes should continue with loss of Dubinsky (James Payton) 0
RSS
Google
MyYahoo!
MyMSN
NewsGator
BlogLines