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Game Thirty-Eight Preview: Lightning @ Kings

keith fries
·3 min read

The Los Angeles Kings take on the Tampa Bay Lightning in their first of two meetings, this season.

LA enters this contest with a 13-2-1 record at Crypto.com Arena, Tampa Bay 9-7-1 on the road. In their current homestand, the Kings are 3-0-0 including a shutout victory over the New Jersey Devils.

In their last ten meetings, the Lightning have gotten the better of the Kings, 8-2-0. However, they’ve split the series over the last two seasons (2-2), each team winning at home.

LIGHTNING CLASHES

On February 26th, 2023, the Tampa Bay Lightning sent Defenseman Cal Foote plus a bevy of a draft picks (2025 conditional first-round, 2024 second-round, 2023 third, fourth, fifth-round) to the Nashville Predators to acquire Forward Tanner Jeannot.

"He's a top-9 forward, he's going to produce some secondary scoring for us. That's not why we brought him here. Everything he offers us on offense is an added benefit." - Tampa Bay Lightning General Manager Julien BriseBois

Jeannot’s time in Tampa Bay would be short lived, playing just seventy-five regular season and seven postseason games over two seasons.

Still, his physical presence was felt on the ice. Last season, Jeannot lead the 'Bolts in hits (211) while scraping in seven fights.

Nothing has changed since joining the Kings. Jeannot has recorded one hundred three hits (3.01 per game on average) and dropped the gloves four times.

As Tampa Bay Lightning General Manager Julien BriseBois said, Jeannot's ability to add offense is just an added benefit. In the months of October and November, Jeannot averaged 0.09 PPG and 0.18 PPG, respectively. His numbers spiked dramatically in December to nearly half-a-point per game (0.45).

86’D

In seventeen career games against the Kings, Lightning Forward Nikita Kucherov has recorded twenty-three points (9G, 14A) and a +7 rating. Of those matchups, he’s only been kept off the scoresheet three times.

This season, Kucherov has averaged 2.00 PPG on the road, thirty-four points (9G, 25A) in seventeen games. Against Pacific Division opponents, he’s combined for 2.40 PPG (5-2-10-12) – even after being blanked by San Jose on Thursday.

Kucherov has averaged 1.22 PPG over seven hundred fifty-eight NHL regular season games, 1.35 PPG (regular season) against LA.

BRAYDEN POINTS

Tampa Bay Forward Brayden Point has recorded forty-three points (23G, 20A), this season. His twenty-three goals are a team best with a 31.5% shooting percentage on seventy-three SOG.

Puck drop is slated for 6:05 PM PST. You can watch the game on television via FanDuel Sports Network or listen live with the ESPN LA app.

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