VANCOUVER Authentic Oscar Fantenberg Jersey , British Columbia — The Tampa Bay Lightning do not have much trouble with offense.But, lately, defense has been a different story.The Lightning (25-7-2), which sit first overall in the NHL and leads the league in goals with 138, has surrendered 15 markers in its last three games.Article continues below ...Assistant coach Derek Lalonde, standing in for head coach Jon Cooper after a practice in Vancouver on Monday, noted there is a need to emphasize offense in today’s NHL. But he said the Bolts will be putting the onus on defense in Tuesday’s game against the Canucks (16-16-4).“There’s a fine line of thinking offense, playing offense (and) instinctively playing offense, but not giving up on the other end – and we’ve crossed it at times,” said Lalonde.The Bolts are looking to rebound after Sunday’s 5-4 overtime loss in Winnipeg ended their winning streak at eight games.“(It’s) probably a good lesson learned Tanner Pearson Jersey ,” said Lalonde of the close loss against one of the NHL’s best clubs. “I would say we’ve been getting away with (loose play), but we’ve had some games where we got away with (wins). It was through great goaltending or a last-second defensive save.”Lalonde said defenseman and forwards alike have to think about defense collectively.“Our guys have done a pretty good job of self-evaluating, knowing when to tighten (play) up and when they’ve left (the defensive effort) out there,” said Lalonde. “The last couple games, we’ve left it out there a little more.”The Lightning regarded the game against Winnipeg as a litmus test for their season. The Canucks pose much less of a challenge than the Jets, but Vancouver has won five of its past six games, including back-to-back home games on the weekend against Philadelphia and a surging Edmonton squad.“They’re a good team,” said Lightning defenseman Anton Stralman of the Canucks. “Just from watching from the sidelines a little bit, offensively, they’ve been going for a while and we know they can score goals.”The Canucks have averaged four goals per game in their last quartet of contests. In the game before those four Carter Hutton Jersey Womens , they scored six times.“We have a lot of sharpshooters out there and a lot of guys who can put the puck in the net, so it was just a matter of time before (the goals) started flooding in,” center Bo Horvat, 25, told reporters.After being considered a playoff after-thought, the Canucks have moved into the wild-card discussion. Tuesday’s contest against the NHL’s best club will serve as a potential benchmark after the Canucks achieved a high standard in Sunday’s win over the Oilers.“I would say it was one of our better games of the year,” said Vancouver coach Travis Green.Consequently, the Lightning has probably picked a good time to think more about defense. For their return to the ice Thursday night after a four-day Christmas break, the Nashville Predators got a pair of reinforcements. What they didn’t get was a much-needed win.Despite outshooting Dallas 49-30, including a total of nine shots on net from Viktor Arvidsson and P.K. Subban in their return after absences of a month-and-a-half each http://www.kingsproshop.com/authentic-tyler-toffoli-jersey , Nashville couldn’t get a puck past Anton Khudobin. It cost them a 2-0 defeat, their fifth straight loss.Article continues below ...The Predators hope to snap their longest skid since January of 2016 when they host the New York Rangers Saturday night at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.With a road-heavy schedule awaiting it in January, Nashville could use these two points. To hear coach Peter Laviolette talk after Thursday night’s game, success might not be very far away, even though his team again failed to get the result.“We were working to create,” Laviolette said. “It wasn’t a lack of effort or opportunity. I think when you put that many pucks on net, you’re looking to do the right things. We’ll go back and nit-pick it. We’ll try to find some times we could have been better. It’s frustrating.”In spite of the loss, the Predators (22-15-2) remain four points behind Winnipeg for first place in the Central Division and have four meetings left with the Jets, including an unusual two-game home series with them January 15 and 17. So there’s still plenty of time to play catchup.Subban, whose first game back from an upper-body injury suffered in mid-November offered three shots but a minus two rating Devan Dubnyk Jersey , said Nashville can build on its ability to marry puck possession with shots on net in Thursday night’s defeat.“We put nearly 50 shots on net and not a lot of teams can do that,” he said. “We did some things well. I think the two goals were tough ones and we would like to have them back. We had a lot of chances but just couldn’t bury them.While the Predators search for consistency and points, New York (15-14-7) has managed to pick up a point in seven of its last nine games. But the Rangers have just two wins to show for the stretch following a4-3 overtime loss Thursday night in Madison Square Garden to Columbus.Chris Kreider’s goal at 12:06 of the third period gave New York a late edge, but the Blue Jackets equalized via Zach Werenski at 17:40 and then skated off 31 seconds into overtime on Pierre-Luc Dubois’ 14th marker of the year.“We can’t let this get in the way of moving on and getting ready for Nashville,” said first-year coach David Quinn. “There were situations where we had a chance to get the puck out and didn’t do what we were supposed to. It’s about learning how to win.”The Rangers have struggled across the board, ranking 25th in goals (100) and 23rd in goals against (117). Their penalty kill hasn’t helped, ranking 26th.The teams met on October 4 in their season opener, with the Predators earning a 3-2 win.