It was a momentous evening at the Tampa Bay Times Forum. The Lightning started off their two game home stand with a 3-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators. Ben Bishop stood strong (and tall) in his fourth straight start for the Bolts. Tampa showed resiliency and ended the night with two points.
A number of congratulations are in order. Mark Barberio made his NHL debut. Marty St. Louis recorded the 900th point of his career with an assist on Vinny Lecavalier’s goal. Pierre-Cedric Labrie scored his first career NHL goal in the 2nd. Steven Stamkos scored his 26th goal of the season and cemented the win.
The Lightning remain a work in progress. Bishop faced 33 shots. He managed to stop 31 of them, but that’s a pretty high number. There were also a large number of turn overs that afforded the Senators some quality scoring chances. Luckily that didn’t happen, but it is a bit concerning. Nothing to dwell on too much, this season is what it is. It’s only after Cooper has the team for a training camp and with steady practice time that we’ll know the identity he wants them to possess.
-Marty’s 900th point ties him with Tony Amonte at 97th place on the NHL all time points list.
-Ryan Malone made his return to the line up. Bugsy recorded 15:43 in ice time, two penalty minutes, and 1 shot on goal.
The Pittsburgh Penguins come to town on Thursday. Here’s hoping the Lightning are ready to cause some trouble for the Atlantic Division Champions.
With all signs pointing towards today’s trade deadline being uneventful, there were more than a few surprising moves leading up to 3 pm. The Lightning joined in as well, making headlines with a shocking trade. Their quest for a number one goaltender sent them to Ottawa and a goalie they expressed interest in last year, 6’8″ Ben Bishop. In return, the Senators acquired forward Cory Conacher and a fourth round draft pick. This was a head scratcher for many fans, the jury here remains out until we see exactly what we’re working with.
There have been some other moves so far this week as well. Defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes. The Bolts picked up a seventh round draft pick and forward Adam Hall. Yes, the very same Adam Hall that the ‘Canes claimed off of waivers on March 16th. To make things even more confusing, the Philadelphia Flyers claimed Hall off of waivers today. No one would have been surprised to hear he was dealt back to the Bolts yet again, but it looks like he’s sticking on Broad Street for now.
Today also saw a number of roster shifts between Tampa and Syracuse. Brett Connolly and Dana Tyrell were called up from the Crunch. Cedrick Desjardins, Andrej Sustr, Mike Angelidis, and Ondrej Palat are on their way back to the ‘Cuse. Moves done most likely to bolster the Crunch ahead of the AHL playoffs.
Tampa Bay Times Forum & Esposito’s New Statue Photo by Linda Hamilton
When the NHL realignment plan first came to light, there were a lot of questions. What about old rivalries like Detroit & Chicago? How does this make more geographic sense than the current lay out? With a league comprised of four conferences back in popular conversation, there’s been a lot of talk about how this would effect the Tampa Bay Lightning. In short, it could be great for the Florida teams and it could be terrible.
In hockey, as in life, it often helps to make a list of pros and cons:
Steve Yzerman & Vinny Lecavalier Photo courtesy of Tampa Bay Lightning Facebook Page
This evening’s game at the Tampa Bay Times Forum began with a great celebration of Vinny Lecavalier’s first 1,000 games in the NHL. Once the team gets some of the videos up, we’ll go into that in more detail. The action on the ice was pretty remarkable as well. After a sloppy second period, the Lightning regrouped and defeated the Ottawa Senators 6-4. In doing so they handed the Sens their first loss of the season.
Matt Carle opened the scoring on a power play just 1:09 into the first period, but it didn’t take long for Erik Condra to tie it up. Ottawa pulled away in the second on goals from Jason Spezza and Erik Karlsson. Steven Stamkos did what he does best to pull the Bolts within one, only to see Kyle Turris widen the gap yet again. Victor Hedman brought an action packed second period to a close with a goal of his own.
Bolts’ GM Steve Yzerman is checking things off his to do list well before free agency opens tomorrow. Goalie? Check. Depth forwards? Check. Defensemen? Check. Just days after issuing qualifying offers to 4 of their young restricted free agents, three of them have been signed.
Brian Lee inked a two year, one way contract yesterday. Lee was acquired in the February 26th trade that sent Matt Gilroy to the Ottawa Senators. The 6’3″ defenseman ended up playing 20 games in Tampa, recording eight assists and seventeen shots on net.
The blueline was bolstered even further with the signing of Keith Aulie today. Aulie is an imposing figure on the defensive squad at 6’6″. The young d-man was brought to Tampa on the trade that sent Carter Ashton to the Toronto Maple Leafs. In 19 games, Aulie had one assist and 17 penalty minutes.
Most of those coming from this:
Free agency begins tomorrow, so more moves are bound to be made. Oh, and happy early Canada Day to our friends north of the border.
