Nate Thompson Photo by Linda Hamilton

This was a game the Lightning needed to win. Scratch that. They’re all games they need to win if they want to even think about bumping into the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Turn overs and mental mistakes were hallmarks of this evening’s game against the Islanders. The Bolts did show some resiliency and tied the game twice, but ended up falling short and losing 4-2.

New York struck first and Richard Panik evened the score about five minutes into the second period. Josh Bailey pushed the Isles ahead again, but Matt Carle tied it yet again. What seemed to seal the deal was the third New York goal. Ben Bishop was screened and didn’t even see the puck until it was already behind him. Right through the five hole. An empty net goal in the final seconds of the game put the kibosh on any hopes of Tampa come back.

» Continue reading “Lightning Falter On Long Island, Lose 4-2 Against Islanders”

Anders Lindback Photo by Alexis Boucher

Whew. It was a busy day when it comes to Lightning news. Best to jump right in.

-When Anders Lindback left last night’s game against the Leafs, it didn’t look good. He went in in relief for a struggling Mathieu Garon, and left almost as quickly. The team issued the bad news earlier today. Lindback is out indefinitely with a right ankle sprain. With a little over a month left in the season, it’s pretty safe to say he’s done for the year.

-In light of Lindback’s injury, Cedrick Desjardins has been recalled from the Syracuse Crunch. Twitter buzz suggests Guy Boucher is planning on going with Garon in net for both Saturday and Sunday’s games. Richard Panik has also been recalled due to Ryan Malone’s shoulder injury.

- Tampa signed NCAA free agent defenseman Andrej Sustr to a two year entry level contract. The 22 year old Czech blueliner is literally a huge signing, as he is 6’8″ and 225 pounds.  If his name sounds familiar, you may have seen him at last summer’s prospect camp. The University of Nebraska-Omaha Maverick recorded nine goals, 25 points, and 53 penalty minutes through 39 games this season.

-Toronto Maple Leafs left wing Joffrey Lupul was suspended 2 games for his hit to Victor Hedman’s head Wednesday night. The league’s suspension video can be seen here.

Cory Conacher Photo by Alexis Boucher

Three glimmers of light could soon give way to an entire sky full of shining stars.  This lame analogy is in reference to the three Lightning rookies currently on the roster – Alex Killorn, Cory Conacher, and Richard Panik – and how their success at the NHL level could be indicative of what’s to come for this franchise.  » Continue reading “Lightning Rookies Providing A Glimpse Of The Near Future”

Ryan Malone Makes New Friends Photo by Linda Hamilton

Tampa’s improved depth is going to be put to the test going into tonight’s game against the Montreal Canadiens. LW Ryan Malone suffered an undisclosed lower body injury prior to Sunday’s game against the New York Rangers.  Many players take part in a pre-warm up skate soccer game and that seems to be what aggravated a lingering ailment.

Lightning head coach Guy Boucher estimated that Malone could miss as much as 3-4 weeks. Bugsy is hoping that he’ll miss less time. This marks the third consecutive season that the winger has missed time due to injury.

With Malone’s movement to the IR, the Lightning have recalled Richard Panik from the Syracuse Crunch. Panik has 21 goals and and 14 assists through 43 games with the Crunch this season.

“Panik is a big guy with tremendous speed,” Guy Boucher said. “He’s a solid hockey player. He’s got unbelievable hands and skills, and sometimes has shown flashes of brilliance.” (Quote Source: NHL.com)

It’ll be a big night for two of Tampa’s prospects. Panik will make his NHL debut and Alex Killorn will play his first game at the Tampa Bay Times Forum.

A number of their players may have stayed up with the Lightning following training camp, but the Syracuse Crunch are going to be well represented at the AHL All Star Classic. Five representatives of the team will be participating in this week’s festivities in Providence.

Mark Barberio and Radko Gudas will represent the Crunch blueliners. The forwards will also be more than accounted for with Tyler Johnson and Richard Panik there. Head coach Jon Cooper will also be there as part of the Eastern Conference coaching staff.

So the Lightning’s AHL affiliate will have the most players of any other team at the game and the most in franchise history. Not bad.

» Continue reading “Syracuse Crunch Invade The AHL All Star Classic”

Tyler Johnson gets low for faceoffs…so low that no one saw him on draft day. Picture from the Syracuse Crunch FB page

This Syracuse Crunch team sure is special, isn’t it?   The NHL lockout drags on, but one benefit for the Tampa Bay Lightning is the ability to see its young guns play together and grow as a dominant team.  The Crunch played three games this weekend (2-1 loss vs. Binghamton, 4-1 win at Albany, 6-1 win at Worcester) and are now 12-3-1-1 through 17 games.  This puts them in first in the East Division as well as the entire Eastern Conference.

Take some time to absorb all of these bullet points and try not to get giddy (I couldn’t resist) thinking about some of these guys contributing at the NHL level. » Continue reading “Number Crunch: Syracuse Dominating As A Team”

J.T. Wyman Photo by Linda Hamilton

Tonight’s Crunch/Senators game had pretty much everything. Old time hockey toughness, tons of goals, a dramatic late game comeback. Oh, and a goalie fight. A European goalie fight no less. Don Cherry would lose his shit.

This game was pretty ugly from the outset. Bingamton held a 5-0 lead through the first half of the game. That’s when Sens goalie Robin Lehner and Crunch goalie Riku Helenius met at center ice and, well… see for yourself.

Update: Clearer fight footage.

» Continue reading “Crunch Battle To 6-5 Win Against Binghamton”

Riku Helenius (Syracuse Crunch Facebook)

They may have a new name, new city, and new jersey but the Lightning’s AHL affiliate picked up exactly where they left off last season. Shortly after winning the Calder Cup earlier this year as the Norfolk Admirals, the Bolts moved their minor league team to New York. The Syracuse Crunch have started their preseason on the road this week and so far the song remains the same.

The Crunch faced off against the St. Johns Icecaps on Thursday and Friday night. Thursday night’s game saw the Crunch win 4-1. Cory Conacher, Philip-Michael Devos, Richard Panik and Alex Killorn scored for Syracuse. Both Dustin Tokarski and Riku Helenius saw time in net.

Friday night’s game saw the Crunch saw goals from Brett Connolly and Matt Taormina in regulation. The game was tied after three periods and a scoreless overtime sent the proceedings to a shootout. Ondrej Palat, Brett Connolly and Tyler Johnson all had shootout goals. Riku Helenius turned aside all three St. Johns shooters to secure the victory.

The final game of the series is set for 12:30 pm tomorrow. That is probably 11:30 EST since Newfoundland has their own time zone. Just go with it.

» Continue reading “Syracuse Crunch Open Preseason With 2 Victories”

Brett Connolly Photo by Linda Hamilton

Need another sign that the NHL lockout is looming without hope of being stopped? Teams were assigning players to the AHL in droves this morning, the Lightning included.

The following players were assigned to the Syracuse Crunch of the AHL:

Forwards: J.T. Brown, Cory Conacher, Brett Connolly, Danick Gauthier, Alex Hutchings, Tyler Johnson, Alex Killorn, Vladislav Namestnikov, Ondrej Palat and Richard Panik.

Defensemen: Mark Barberio, Radko Gudas, Dmitry Korobov, Charles Landry and Dan Milan.

Goaltenders: Dustin Tokarsaki, Riku Helenius and Pat Nagle.

As if that weren’t enough, JT Wyman was placed on waivers as well. He will be assigned to Syracuse on Saturday if he clears waivers at noon on Saturday.

Yup. This sucks. We should be prepping for training camps right now.

Calder Cup Photo by MattBritt00 / Flickr

The Norfolk Admirals are pretty good at hockey. After riding a historic 28 game winning streak and a league high 113 point regular season, their dominance continued with a 14-3 start in the Calder Cup playoffs.

Their story came to an end tonight in the best possible fashion: sweeping the Toronto Marlies to win the AHL Championship in a 6-1 victory. In doing so, they became the first Lightning American League affiliate to hoist the Calder Cup.

Even with the controversial finish to game 3, the Admirals wasted no time in putting points on the board. They scored 5 straight goals. Mike Kostka and Tyler Johnson had two apiece. Pierre-Cedric Labrie and Richard Panik scored the other Norfolk goals. Cory Conacher finished the evening with four assists.

As with all of Norfolk’s final 8 playoff games, Dustin Tokarski. He stopped 18 of the 19 shots he faced. Forward Alexandre Picard was awarded the Jack A. Butterfield trophy as the Calder Cup Playoffs MVP. Picard was held scoreless in the final game, but he led all skaters with 16 points through the rest of the postseason.

» Continue reading “Norfolk Admirals: Your 2012 Calder Cup Champions”