Northern Exposure: Canadian Road Trip Crucial
As the playoff race heats up, the Lightning find themselves once again tied with Atlanta for the Southeast Division lead. The Bolts will now travel to western Canada to kick off three games against Northwest Division teams. The Lightning will face off against the Northwest Division leading Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday in a reunion with their old Southeast Division foe Roberto Luongo. This trip will define the rest of the regular season and either expose the team's weaknesses or solidify its position in the division and conference. Tortorella is looking for the guys who will step up for this team going into the playoffs. Guys like Paul Ranger, Doug Janik & Andre Roy will be competing for their playoff roster spots with the new aquisitions Shane O'Brien, Jason Ward and Karl Stewart. This stretch along with the rest of the regular seasons games will also determine whether or not Lightning GM Jay Feaster did enough before the trade deadline to fill the teams holes. The blue line seems to be better with the aquisition of O'Brien, but he is an untested rookie. Gone is the scoring of guys like Modin and Stillman, in their place is Perrin, Fedotenko and Craig, guys who so far have not filled that scoring void. Gone is the Bulin Wall, replaced by Holmqvst and Denis, both with no playoff experience. To say the next four games are crucial is an understatement. The Lightning must step up and claim the 8 points that are available, they must establish their identity and come toghether as a cohesive unit, and they must get on a roll heading into the playoffs. I don't want to think what another 1st round exit would bring.
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