If you're Carl Lindbom, you're excited about starting your first NHL game. You're joining the Vegas Golden Knights on the three-game East Coast swing, helping the goaltending depth hold the fort down. The team you're facing?
The Tampa Bay Lightning.
In all fairness, this Lightning team is struggling. Badly. Like, we're talking about six points, good enough for... last place in the Eastern Conference. They're 1-3-0 at home to start the season and had the 27th-best scoring attack entering Saturday's slate (2.57). Key players like Jake Guentzel (four goals and five assists), Victor Hedman (seven assists), and Nikita Kucherov (two goals and five assists) are producing. The rest of the Lightning? Not so much.
Still, it'll be a treat for Golden Knights fans traveling to Tampa to see the highly-touted prospect debut for Vegas. He brings his skill set to the Sunshine State and has a reputable record. Last season, he posted a GAA of 2.65 and a save percentage of .912 with the Henderson Silver Knights. The Silver Knights!
That's like having a new Lamborghini in a trash heap. Lindbom was the literal Lamborghini, providing goaltending stability for a weak Silver Knights team. Imagine what he could do with a proven NHL team like Vegas.
But let's look at Sunday's opponent and see what Lindbom's up against. Will the Lightning shock the Swedish rookie to a heap of ash? Or will Lindbom stand strong and take down Tampa Bay?
Measuring up the Tampa Bay Lightning for Carl Lindbom and the Vegas Golden Knights
The Lightning are built on veteran leadership, with Kucherov leading the way. They're built on being impossible to check, using their hockey instincts to control the play. Judging from Saturday's 3-0 loss against the Florida Panthers, that could be problematic for the Golden Knights.
Of course, that starts with the former Hart Memorial Trophy winner. He's terrifying in one-on-one situations, making him a nightmare matchup against Lindbom. What's a goaltender to do in this scenario?
Why, you can't let a team's best players slip past you. That was a fatal mistake the Golden Knights dealt with in Saturday's loss, letting Sam Reinhart slip past them in the neutral zone. The result? The game-winning goal, of course.
Part of it falls on Lindbom to read Kucherov's movements as they come. But it's also on Vegas to prevent him from slipping by in the first place. That means getting the sticks out and poaching any incoming pucks. Lindbom will struggle with such a superstar with an exceptional hockey IQ and skill set in his current status.
Sunday's game will be a team effort for the Golden Knights
Just because the Lightning are dead-last in the Eastern Conference doesn't mean they're suddenly a bad team. This is still the same crew trotted out by Jon Cooper. They haven't seen much from players like Andrei Vasilevskiy (GAA of 3.41 and a save percentage of .885), leaving them dead-last in the Atlantic Division. But as Saturday's game proved, that can completely change.
Just look at what happened with Reinhart after torching the Golden Knights. That could also happen on Sunday with the Lightning if Vegas doesn't protect Lindbom as much as possible. There's only so much swift movement and angling a Swedish netminder can do before he cracks.
That's why Sunday's game must be a complete effort for Vegas. They must take away Tampa's shooting lanes and give them the ugliest scoring chances possible. Otherwise, it'll be one ugly debut for Lindbom, leaving him as live bait for an experienced Lightning squad.