Tampa Bay Lightning

[dmvincent]

Tampa Bay got crushed 8-1 by the Pittsburgh Penguins, but the game was much closer than the score indicated. Evgeni Malkin put on a show, finishing with one hat trick, a highlight reel goal and an assist. Steven Stamkos was held off the scoresheet, but Teddy Purcell continues to be a key contributor with the recent departure of winger Steve Downie. Dwayne Roloson faced 34 shots, while Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury faced 35 shots and let in just one goal. The full game recap is below.

1st period
-Chris Kunitz gets his 17th, assisted by Malkin and James Neal.
-Matt Cooke scores his 12th, assisted by Joe Vitale and Zbynek Michalek.
-Jordan Staal scores a short handed goal, his 20th of the season. The goal was unassisted.

2nd period
-Staal gets his 2nd of the game and 21st of the season, assisted by Steve Sullivan and Neal.
-Malkin puts home his 34th, assisted by Kunitz and Deryk Engelland.
-Purcell stops the bleeding and the Bolts finally beat Fleury, that would be his 17th. Assists go to Ryan Malone and Brett Clark.

3rd period
-Malkin scores his 2nd of the game and 35th of the season, assisted by Matt Niskanen.
-Malkin completes the hat trick on his 36th, assisted by Neal and Sullivan.
-Pascal Dupuis wraps it up with a pretty bow, scoring his 14th. Assists go to Staal and Sullivan.

Next up: Tampa Bay travels to New Jersey on Sunday and will need to produce some points in that game. The Lightning are currently six points out of a playoff spot and Florida plays tonight in Carolina.

[dmvincent]

Martin St. Louis led the Lightning to a 4-3 win over the New Jersey Devils. St. Louis had a hat trick and a total of four points in the game. Meanwhile, Teddy Purcell continues to step up in the absence of Vincent Lecavalier. Purcell had three assists today and Tampa would be thrilled if he can continue producing. He currently has 46 points this season. Meanwhile, the Devils stars we're held in check for the most part. Ilya Kovalchuk and Zach Parise each picked up one point, but that was it. Mathieu Garon made 19 saves and Tampa is now just six points out of eight spot, currently held by the Winnipeg Jets. The full game summary is below.

1st period
-Alexei Ponikarovksy puts home his 12th, unassisted.

2nd period
-Martin St. Louis scores his 20th, assisted by Steven Stamkos and Garon.
-St. Louis scores again, his 2nd of the game and 21st of the year. Assists go to Purcell and Stamkos.

3rd period
-Petr Sykora scores his 15th, assisted by Steve Bernier and Dainus Zubrus.
-Matt Gilroy gets his 2nd, assisted by St. Louis and Purcell.
-St. Louis finishes off the hat trick with his 21st, assisted by Purcell and Eric Brewer.
-Parise makes it close, but it was too little and too late. Kovalchuk and Patrik Elias draw the assists.

Next up: Tampa hosts the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday, with a chance to move even closer to a playoff spot.

[dmvincent]

Tampa Bay is on a 2-game winning streak after topping the Montreal Canadiens 2-1 last night. The Lightning had great goaltending from Mathieu Garon and scored when they needed to. Steven Stamkos and Adam Hall scored, while the Canadiens only saw one goal courtesy David Desharnais. Mathieu Garon made 23 saves on 24 shots and beat his former team, while Carey Price was stopped 20 of 22 coming his way. Check out this athletic play by Mathieu Garon, pretty incredible. http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/con...d=35&id=161210

1st period
-Stamkos scores his 44th of the season, assisted by Teddy Purcell and Martin St. Louis.
-Desharnais ties it up with his 13th, unassisted.

2nd period
-Hall clinches the game with his 2nd, assisted by Ryan Malone and J.T. Wyman.

3rd period
-No scoring.

Next up: The Lightning have another tough game on their hands this Friday, with the New York Rangers coming to Tampa Bay Times Forum. Currently 5 points behind the 8th place Capitals, these points are critical to say the least.

[dmvincent]

Now on a 3-game winning steak, the Lightning are on fire after topping the New York Rangers 4-3 in overtime. Steven Stamkos moved within one point of league leader Evgeni Malkin, as he now has 78 on the season. Stamkos continues to lead the NHL in goals, with 45 and potential for quite a few more to finish the season. Meanwhile, Teddy Purcell keeps producing while Vincent Lecavalier is out. The winger has 19 points in 12 games. Purcell made a beautiful pass to Ryan Malone and he made no mistake with a nice wrist shot right past Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist. The full game summary is below. Lundqvist didn't have one of his best games, but he had to face a lot of rubber on Friday. Tampa Bay fired 31 shots on Lundqvist, who was celebrating his 30th birthday.

1st period
-Anisimov scores his 13th, assisted by Ryan McDonagh.

2nd period
-Marian Gaborik finishes off his 31st, assisted by Derek Stepan and Brad Richards
-Tom Pyatt gets the Lightning on the board with his 7th, assisted by Brett Connolly and Brian Lee.

3rd period
-Purcell ties it up with his 18th, assisted by Martin St. Louis and Stamkos.
-Stamkos buries his 45th, assisted by Lee and Purcell.
-Brandon Dubinsky ties it up, wiring one past Mathieu Garon. That would be his 7th, assisted by Gaborik and Anton Stralman.

Overtime
Malone scores his 11th to win the game for Tampa, assisted by Purcell and Eric Brewer.

Next up: The Lightning travel to Carolina on Saturday, as they look to pick up two more points and move closer to eight spot in the East.

[Maaaasquito]

Another big win for TB... Just 1 game on the road vs Caps and 8 at home... TB could make a big push for the division title on this home stretch.

[dmvincent]

Another big win for TB... Just 1 game on the road vs Caps and 8 at home... TB could make a big push for the division title on this home stretch.

That's right, Ryan! Tampa Bay is now just two points behind the Winnipeg Jets after a 4-3 road win over the Carolina Hurricanes. Steven Stamkos ties Evgeni Malkin for the NHL points lead as he now has 47 goals and 37 assists and a total of 80 points. Can you say Hart Trophy?

1st period
-Tim Wallace scores his first with the Lightning, assisted by Ryan Shannon.

2nd period
-Anthony Stewart gets his 8th, assisted by Eric Staal and Jaroslav Spacek.
-Jussi Jokinen gives the Canes the lead on his 10th, unassisted.
-Stewart gets his 2nd of the game and 9th on the year, assisted by Staal and Jiri Tlusty.
-Stamkos puts home his 46th, which was unassisted.

3rd period
-Teddy Purcell scores his 19th, assisted by Martin St. Louis and Ryan Malone.
-Stamkos clinches the game with his 47th, assisted Purcell

Next up: Tampa hosts the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday at the Tampa Bay Times Forum, as they look to move up in the standings and keep their 4-game winning streak going.

[dongjohnson]

Stamkos easily could have had 4. He potted two and had one ring off the post a few minutes before that and had one saved off the crossbar in the 2nd period.

If they can hold it together until Vinny and Hedman come back in around 10 days, anything is possible.

[dmvincent]

Stamkos easily could have had 4. He potted two and had one ring off the post a few minutes before that and had one saved off the crossbar in the 2nd period.

If they can hold it together until Vinny and Hedman come back in around 10 days, anything is possible.

Absolutely, Cam Ward was very good in the game despite the loss.

[dongjohnson]

You have to expect Purcy, MSL and Stammer to slow down eventually, right? I expect Malone will be on Vinny's line once he returns though.

[dmvincent]

Tampa Bay Lightning coverage will be back tomorrow, sorry for the two week absence folks.

[dongjohnson]

I'll sum up the last half dozen games with one paragraph...

Opposing teams have now figured out that there's one scoring line on this team until Lecavalier comes back. The defense still needs a big upgrade, as Hedman keeps making mental mistakes daily and the jury is still out on Dustin Tokarski. Look for young guys to see a good bit of time from here on out, this club no longer has any post-season hopes.

[dmvincent]

I'll sum up the last half dozen games with one paragraph...

Opposing teams have now figured out that there's one scoring line on this team until Lecavalier comes back. The defense still needs a big upgrade, as Hedman keeps making mental mistakes daily and the jury is still out on Dustin Tokarski. Look for young guys to see a good bit of time from here on out, this club no longer has any post-season hopes.

Thanks, they got very unlucky with the Garon injury. It happened just as they were making a push, that really damaged their chances.

[dmvincent]

Tampa picked up a 3-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers. Neither team got goals from their top players, as Tom Pyatt tallied two goals for the Lightning and Edmonton saw scoring from Ladislav Smid and Linus Omark. Dwayne Roloson was very good in the game, turning aside 34 of 36 Oilers shots. Teddy Purcell scored the shootout winner, but it doesn't seem like the playoffs are a possibility anymore for Tampa. They're 8 points out of the final playoff spot with nine game remaining. The full game summary is below.

1st period
-No scoring

2nd period
-Pyatt scores his 9th, assisted by Victor Hedman and Brett Connolly
-Omark gets his 3rd, assisted by Ryan Whitney and Ryan Smyth
-Pyatt scores his 2nd of the game and 10 of the season. Assists go to J.T. Wyman and Tim Wallace.

3rd period
-Smid scores his 4th, assisted by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Sam Gagner.

Overtime
-No scoring

Shootout
-Purcell scores to clinch the win.

Next up: The Lightning host the New York Islanders on Saturday night.

[dmvincent]

Tampa Bay collected another win on Saturday night against the Islanders, just barely beating them 4-3. They scored four goals on 26 shots, while the Islanders had three on 37 shots. We've yet to see Sebastien Caron make his Lightning debut, but Dwayne Roloson got the job done once again. Steven Stamkos now has 52 goals this season, tying Vincent Lecavalier's franchise record for most goals in a season. Stamkos also had an assist in the game, as he continues to trail Evgeni Malkin in the scoring race. Still, very impressive performance this season from Stammer. The full game summary is below.

1st period
-Stamkos scores his 51st, assisted by Teddy Purcell and Martin St. Louis

2nd period
-Stamkos scores his 2nd of the game and 52nd of the year, assisted by St. Louis and Purcell
-Frans Nielsen scores his 15th, assisted by John Tavares and Matt Moulson
-Kyle Okposo ties it up on his 16th, assisted by Nielsen and Josh Bailey

3rd period
-Matt Moulson gives the Isles the lead on his 33rd, assisted my Mark Streit and Andrew MacDonald.
-Tom Pyatt answers for the Lightning with his 11th, assisted by Ryan Malone and Brett Connolly.
-Tim Wallace wins it in regulation on his 3rd, assisted by Stamkos and Pierre-Cedric Labrie.

Next up: Tampa travels to the city of brotherly love, as they square off against the Flyers on Monday night.

[dongjohnson]

Here's some additional thoughts; While Roloson was very sharp, the defense was simply abysmal in the first two periods, giving up chance after chance in the slot. It did however improve significantly in the third period. The Bolts got some nice contributions from their lower lines, and Tom Pyatt appears to be making a push for an increased role next season.

Brett Connolly is playing a much better overall game, but not scoring any goals to go along with it. Marty St. Louis appeared out of sorts, despite having two assists. He whiffed on several passing/shooting attempts and slipped/fell for no reason twice. I can't tell if he's aging, battling an injury or being bothered by the wicked allergy season TB is going through.