Bolts look to continue momentum post Holiday Break

The Tampa Bay Lightning entered the NHL's Holiday Break riding a 12-game point streak and have won 11 of their last 12 games and 14 of their last 16.
The Bolts remain in first place in the League standings and own a six-point advantage over second place Toronto. Tampa Bay tops the NHL in almost too many categories to list: wins (28), points (58), points percentage (.784), goals (151), goals per game (4.08), goal differential (+48), home wins (15), home points (30) and home goal differential (+34).
So, a four-day break when your team is playing maybe its best hockey of the season isn't necessarily an advantageous situation. There's the possibility the momentum gained over the last few weeks of the season could be derailed with extended time off.
But not so according to Lightning head coach Jon Cooper and his players.

"The whole league's off so it's a little bit of a reset button," Cooper said. "The league's tough enough as it is with the 82 games and it's such a condensed schedule, to get a break any time you can, guys are really looking forward to it. You're happy when you're winning into the break, but if you don't win coming out of it, I don't think the break is the reason why. If anything, it just gives bodies a little bit longer chance to heal. It just clears the mind a little bit. I always look at it as a good thing."

"Some guys that are ailing a little bit physically get some much-needed rest and obviously spend some time with the family, which is great," Lightning captain Steven Stamkos added. "We're excited to get back knowing the streak that we're on and we just want to pick up right where we left off."
The Lightning capped a very successful Western Canada road trip in which they went 3-0-1 with a 6-3 victory in Edmonton for one of their most complete wins of the season. Nikita Kucherov recorded the 12th game of five or more points in Lightning history after tallying a goal and four assists. Stamkos reached the 20-goal milestone for the 10th time in his career - tied for second most in franchise history - after netting a pair of goals. The Lightning limited a dangerous Edmonton offensive attack to only one goal at five-on-five. And Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 25-of-28 shots to improve to 3-0-1 since returning from a fractured left foot.
The Bolts are firing on all cylinders currently, and there's no reason their red-hot play shouldn't continue tonight when they get back to action against the Philadelphia Flyers at AMALIE Arena (7:30 p.m. puck drop).
"What this group has done in the first 35-plus games has been exceptional," Cooper said. "They've done everything we've asked them. The thing is it's a hard league to win. When you do compile points, people on the outside may think what they're doing is easy. It's not easy. I look ahead at the schedule we have and the 40-plus games, there's a lot of really good teams either we haven't played yet or a bunch of teams like the one we're playing tonight that's battling for a playoff spot. So, the games get tougher as they go on through. You're really happy with your team that they've put this many points in the bank as they have."

The Lightning will face a different Flyers team than the one they played November 17 in Philadelphia, a game in which the Bolts blew a four-goal lead in the third period but still prevailed in overtime thanks to Anthony Cirelli's game-winner. First, the Flyers fired general manager Ron Hextall 10 days after that loss to the Lightning, replacing him with former Minnesota Wild GM Chuck Fletcher. Then the Flyers let go of head coach Dave Hakstol on December 17 and installed Scott Gordon, the coach of their AHL affiliate, as their interim head coach. Philadelphia has gone 3-0-1 since Gordon has taken over.
Regardless of who's behind the bench or making the personnel decisions, the Lightning expect a tough, physical game against a desperate Flyers team looking to get back into a playoff position.
"Philly is Philly," Bolts defenseman Victor Hedman said. "They're a good team, there's no question about it. We know they're obviously a little bit amped up with the coaching change. That's going to happen. We know we're going to get their best shot tonight. We're ready for it. It's going to be a fun game. It's always fun games against these guys, physical, high speed and two great teams going at it. We're very excited. We're just happy to be back home for a few games before we get back on the road, so we want to play our best."