Two: Burakovsky Update
After sustaining an upper-body injury just six games into the season, Andre Burakovsky played two solid periods Thursday night, earning an assist and showing the skill set for moving the puck up ice that Dave Hakstol covets on game nights. But by early third period, following two shifts and getting checked into the boards, Burakovsky was not available for the rest of the game. Friday, the team announced Burakovsky is back on the injured list as “week to week.”
It’s a blow to the Kraken’s game plan: The best way to stop an offensively skilled team like Saturday's opponent Tampa Bay is to not give the Lightning much time and/or space to make plays of their own and prevent TBL to rack up puck-possession. As a result, Thursday's linemates Wennberg and leading goal scorer Jared McCann will be working with a new partner.
Three: Know the Foe: Tampa Bay in fifth place in Atlantic
There’s no reason to believe the Lightning won’t be a playoff team come April. Yet they are currently 4-5-1 and uneven in their last 10 games, which included a 5-1 shellacking of a road loss to Nashville Thursday following a 4-0 shutout over Dallas last Monday. Nikita Kucherov leads the Lightning with 17 goals and 22 assists for 39 points in 22 games while three more TBL players (Braydon Point with 12, Brandon Hagel and Steven Stamkos both at 10). All-world goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy has recovered from summer hip surgery and he’s the one who pitched the shutout against Dallas.
