Photo: Cut For A Cure

Several members of the Tampa Bay Lightning lost a fair amount of hair this evening at the Tampa Bay Times Forum. Vinny Lecavalier, Teddy Purcell, B.J. Crombeen, Alex Killorn, and Matt Carle formed Team Lightning in the 4th Annual Cut For A Cure charity Challenge.

The event sees people from all over the Bay area raising money to benefit the Pediatric Cancer Foundation. The Bolts have also selected the Vincent Lecavalier Foundation as an additional recipient of the funds they raise. Thanks to the wonders of Twitter, we can see what the guys look at after shedding their locks.

Just because the shaving has already taken place doesn’t mean the fundraising has ended. You can still show your support for this extremely worthy cause through May 3rd here. In a very touching gesture, the players are participating in memory of former teammate Dominic Moore’s late wife Katie.

Pierre Cedric Labrie Photo by Linda Hamilton

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.

Martin St. Louis Photo by Linda Hamilton

A Lightning goalie pitched a shut out in their debut game with the club while wearing their old team’s mask. If this sounds familiar, that’s because Dwayne Roloson did it in his first game with the Bolts in 2011. Ben Bishop joins those ranks tonight after backstopping a 5-0 Tampa Bay victory against the Carolina Hurricanes. Even more impressive, Big Ben faced 45 shots over the course of the game.

The entire team had a different personality. Bishop was quick, moves extremely well for being such a big guy. Jon Cooper allows the offense to be extremely creative and that made this one a whole lot of fun to watch. An offensive flurry in the second period saw Teddy Purcell, Tom Pyatt, and Keith Aulie score. Marty St. Louis and Benoit Pouliot extended the lead in the third.

- Captain Vinny Lecavalier made his return to the line up after missing nine games.

-Victor Hedman sustained a lower body injury and did not return to the game after the first period. He is listed as day to day.

Another solid win that ties Tampa with Carolina in the Southeast division standings. The Bolts head off to meet the Islanders on Saturday.

Photo by Linda Hamilton

Bad news being reported by the Lightning beat writers today. Captain Vinny Lecavalier will stay in Tampa while the Bolts are away on their latest road trip to Canada. The team has only said that he sustained an undisclosed lower body injury. Damian Cristodero of the Tampa Bay Times stated Lecavalier could have a fracture in his foot. GM Steve Yzerman stated that the captain could miss up to 3 weeks while he heals.

Left wing Ryan Malone is now out indefinitely after a questionable open ice hit in Monday’s win against the Flyers.  Bugsy was attempting to play a puck near his feet when Zac Rinaldo absolutely leveled him. The team says it’s an upper body injury. Looked like there was contact to the head  from where I was sitting. The league didn’t review the hit today, so that’s that.

Zac Rinaldo also delivered a hit to Victor Hedman. Hedman didn’t end up returning to the game and fear for the blueline was palpable. The big Swede is listed as day to day with… you guessed it… an undisclosed upper body injury.

If these injuries keep Malone or Hedman out for any significant amount of time we may see more call ups from Syracuse. We’ll see what happens ahead of tomorrow’s game at Toronto.

Adam Hall Photo by Linda Hamilton

Are the Lightning looking to rebuild right here and now? We may have a bit of an answer. TSN’s Darren Dreger reported that the Bolts have placed RW Adam Hall on waivers this afternoon. He has been a healthy scratch pretty frequently as of late. It’s highly unlikely he would end up with the Syracuse Crunch. A solid defensive minded player like Hall would be a great addition for many teams. It would also allow him to see more playing time.

Hall has 4 assists through 20 games this season. His most impressive state is his team leading  56.4% face off percentage. This loss could be a huge blow for the Bolts. Captain Vinny Lecavalier, who has the second hised FO % on the team, was placed on IR yesterday.

More as this story develops.

Vincent Lecavalier Photo by Linda Hamilton

Lightning captain Vinny Lecavalier wasn’t out on the ice for morning skate today and for good reason. Per the team, Vinny is out indefinitely with an unspecified lower body injury and has been placed on injured reserve. It doesn’t sound like surgery is necessary, but the IR move does mean he’ll be out a minimum of 7 days.  The injury appears to have been sustained in the third period of Tuesday’s game against the Panthers.

As with most things in life, you take the good with the bad. In losing Lecavalier, the Lightning lose their leader. Vinny was also second on the team in face off percentage and leading the squad in hits. He also sees a significant amount of time on the power play. That’s bad.

The good? Center Tyler Johnson has been called up from the Syracuse Crunch and will make his NHL debut tonight against the New York Islanders. Through 59 games with the Crunch, Johnson has 31 goals and 57 points. 11 of those goals came on the power play. He did take part in the Lightning’s abbreviated training camp in January before the start of the season. Johnson will wear #63 on his sweater this evening.

So what happens now? The Lightning continue to struggle or they channel the Ottawa Senators and keep right on playing. The latter is infinitely more appealing.

Anders Lindback Photo by Alexis Boucher

The Lightning are extremely lucky to have pulled out a win against the Panthers tonight. Tampa registered just 13 shots on goal through the whole entire game. We’ve been remembering moments over the team’s 20 year history this season and they made it again tonight. They registered the lowest number of shots in franchise history. On the other end of the ice, Anders Lindback faced 39 shots. How on earth did the Bolts end up winning 3-2? Lindback stopped 37 of the Panthers chances.

It’s going to be difficult for some to give credit where it’s due, but Lindback stole this game for the Lightning. That can’t even be argued.

» Continue reading “Lindback Leads The Lightning In 3-2 Win Against Florida”

It’s always nice to make new friends. Photo by Alexis Boucher

After the overtime victory in Sunrise on Saturday, a lot of questions faced the Lightning going into their brief home stand. Would they be able to continue that momentum? Would they reap the benefits of having a practice session on Monday? Would the scoring continue or would they fall back into bad habits? It’s still a mighty small sample size, but Tampa seemed to find their stride in front of a vastly pro-Toronto crowd. They answered the bell and continued to put the puck on net, defeating the Leafs 4-2.

When I say the crowd was pro-Toronto… it felt like we were in Canada. I asked my friend if this means we get free health care now. Nature of the beast with a hockey team in Florida. So many snowbirds live down here during the winter anyways. For those who aren’t part time residents, it may be easier and cheaper to get tickets here. No hard feelings, everyone was well behaved. But there was a lady behind me who thought that ever Maple Leafs player was Phil Kessel. Riiiiight.

» Continue reading “No Leafs No: Lightning Bolt Past Toronto 4-2″

Well, that was a rough one. The Lightning’s offense sputtered a bit in the wake of Philadelphia’s swarming coverage in the offensive zone. Benoit Pouliot scored the only goal for the Lightning and Andres Lindback made 22 saves.

What seemed to make the most news were two fights that took place. First B.J. Crombeen and Zach Rinaldo dropped the gloves at 6:19 in the first.

» Continue reading “Bolts Go Down Swinging, Lose 2-1 to Flyers”

Photo by Alexis Boucher

It’s tough to be disappointed no matter what you read on Twitter. 2 games in as many nights are difficult for any team no matter how many goals they’ve been scoring. That seems to be what the Lightning suffered tonight. Through the second and third periods they just seemed tired. New York disrupted their rhythm and took the victory in the 3-2 game. A tad ironic as current members of the Rangers Brad Richards and John Tortorella were honored as part of the 20th anniversary celebration this evening.

The main thing that I take away from tonight, other than rage at the jerk Rangers fans sitting behind us, is how fickle Tampa’s fan base really is. Having been with them through thick and thin apparently I assume everyone has as well. Yesterday people were ready to hand the Bolts the Stanley Cup and now the sky is falling. It’s one game. The condensed schedule does place extra importance on each match up, but they’re going to lose games.

» Continue reading “Streak Snapped: Lightning Fall 3-2 To Rangers”