"The Tampa Bay Lightning pay the team's one and only visit to the SAP Center during the regular season in yet another test for this young San Jose Sharks' squad. The Lightning are among the better teams in the NHL with a 24-13-3 record. That's good enough for second in the Atlantic Division and fifth in the league. This is Tampa Bay's final stop on its California road trip, and the Lightning are going for the California sweep."
"The good news is that special teams could help in this matchup. The Lightning have 221 more penalty minutes this season than the Sharks, though many of those PIMs were racked up during the team's throwdown with the Florida Panthers. The Lightning penalty kill is third best in the league at 83.7%. But it's power play is comparable to the Sharks - San Jose's is 21st in the league and Tampa's is 22nd. The Sharks just might win today's special teams battle."
The Tampa Bay Lightning enter San Jose with a 24-13-3 record, second in the Atlantic Division and on a six-game winning streak after victories in Anaheim and Los Angeles. The teams score at similar rates, but Tampa Bay allows nearly one fewer goal per game than San Jose. Special teams could influence the outcome, as Tampa Bay carries far more penalty minutes but fields the NHL's third-best penalty kill, while both teams have similarly ranked power plays. Nikita Kucherov leads Tampa Bay offensively, and Andrei Vasilevskiy anchors the goaltending staff. The teams meet again on Jan. 20 in Florida.
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