Five NHL questions: Life after Stamkos

1. How will the Tampa Bay Lightning attempt to fill the void left by Steven Stamkos?

Attempt is the operative word here. Replacing Stamkos is impossible, as he provides a skill set unique to a handful of individuals in the world. With that being said, the Lightning will be facing that task as he misses a chunk of time after breaking his tibia. Who's going to play with Martin St. Louis? How will the power play look? A lot of factors come with this absence and we wanna know what it means.

Giroux finally broke the seal when he scored his first goal of the season on Saturday. The Flyers return to action on Tuesday night against the Ottawa Senators. Will Giroux develop the early goings of a scoring streak?

The New York Rangers will host the New Jersey Devils at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night and Henrik Lundqvist is expected to face Martin Brodeur. Lundqvist has collectively allowed seven goals over his last five starts, while Brodeur has pitched consecutive shutouts in addition to allowing two goals over his last four appearances. Goalie duel? Yeah, might be a goalie duel.

The Phoenix Coyotes face the St. Louis Blues in a fantastic Western Conference matchup on Thursday night. St. Louis enters the contest on a three-game winning streak, while Phoenix has collected points in six of their last seven and 13 of their last 15. Also, Alex Pietrangelo against Oliver Ekman-Larsson? Wooo boy, you probably wanna watch this game.

The Avalanche has won all six games away from Pepsi Center this season. The club currently sits atop the vaunted Central Division and can regain sole possession of first place with a win against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday night. Will they?

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