As the 4-Nations Face-Off tournament and the resulting break loom in February, the Tampa Bay Lightning are seeking one key as January comes to a close: normalcy.
After playing 15 games in 27 days, the Lightning will close a mediocre January on Thursday night against the visiting Los Angeles Kings.
Tampa Bay is 6-8-1 during the 15 games in 2025. The Lightning are 1-4-0 over the past five games, including a 2-0 loss against the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday and a 4-1 setback to the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday.
The skid’s result was a standings plummet: The Lightning have dropped from their third-place playoff spot in the Atlantic Division to the second wild card in the Eastern Conference.
Times are not good in downtown Tampa despite the team’s 15-7-1 home mark.
“There’s not a magic potion of what you’re going to say that makes anybody feel better,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “Guys are frustrated. Sometimes you have to let them breathe, take a breath and circle back tomorrow. We get to have a practice. I think we’ve had two in the whole month.”
Even without No. 1 goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy (illness), Tampa Bay’s game against Chicago on Tuesday had to have been filed in an easy-to-reach place in the “must win” file.
The Blackhawks arrived having won just five road games all season and only once in the past 11 tries (1-9-1) in Tampa. Chicago netminder Arvid Soderblom was outstanding in stopping 34 shots while being under siege all night.
Brayden Point netted his team-high 28th goal on an assist from Nikita Kucherov, who notched his 74th point in 47 games.
Captain Victor Hedman will skate in his 1,100th game on Thursday.
The Kings, meanwhile, fell to 0-2-1 on their five-game road trip with a 3-0 setback to the Florida Panthers on Wednesday.
However, Los Angeles received good news when veteran defenseman Drew Doughty made his season debut.
Doughty, 35, broke his left ankle in the preseason against the Vegas Golden Knights on Sept. 25 and missed the team’s first 47 games.
He should help the Kings’ 29th-ranked power play, but Kings coach Jim Hiller added the organization had to be understanding of his return as it prepared for the run to the regular-season finish line.
“We want to keep the expectations realistic for him,” Hiller said. “It’s going to take a little time for him to get into form, but we’re happy. We’re starting the process.
“It has been a long time, but the guys have done a really good job in his absence.”
Australian-born Jordan Spence has put up production recently from the rear guard, scoring four points (goal, three assists) in his past six games and has played plenty.
Entering the Florida game, the 23-year-old Spence had logged 110:15 of ice time, the fourth-highest of his career in a five-match span and his most since 2021-22.
Forward Adrian Kempe has seven goals this month for Los Angeles.
–Field Level Media
