SB Nation - Todd Fedoruk

Tampa Bay Lightning Game 37: versus the Philadelphia Flyers

Cassie McClellan — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 19:00:38 -0000

by Steve Nesius - AP

The Tampa Bay Lightning lost to the Philadelphia Flyers 5-2.

This was Mattias Ohlund's 800^th career game. It was really too bad that the Lightning couldn't win it for him. That's quite a milestone.

And, just as importantly, Zenon Konopka scored his first NHL goal in over four years.

This was a strange game. More so than usual. It was like every period was an entirely different game with entirely different teams playing.

The first period was ugly. It was slow and sloppy and chippy and not very good. Even worse than they'd been playing on their recent road trip. There were a lot of penalties being taken - particularly by the Lightning. They ended up being down 2-0 after one.

Then the second period was entirely different. It had a great pace, the players were clicking, and all of that sloppiness was gone. The penalties slowed down, too. And the Lightning managed to score a couple of goals, ending the second period tied 2-2.

The third period was pretty typical of how they'd been playing a few games before. The players kept bunching up on the ice, leaving whole swaths of it uncovered. The defense wasn't clearing rebounds. The forwards were buzzing around but couldn't convert anything. The only bright spot was that the Lightning didn't take any penalties for the second period in a row.

Vincent Lecavalier had a whopping seven shots on goal - that doesn't include the two that were blocked. I'm sure there were a few more that weren't counted by the official statistician on the game, though. Hockey's a fast game, so you can't catch everything.

The other crazy stat of the night was Steven Stamkos's faceoff percentage. Earlier in the season, he'd been doing pretty well with faceoffs. But then he jammed his wrist at practice, and he's not done so well. He won just 29% of the 14 faceoffs he took - that's winning four and losing ten.

Alex Tanguay had a good night, though not so much statistically. He was controlling the puck and setting up some nice plays. So was Lecavalier. Victor Hedman was another player that had a good night - he had three shots on goal, four missed shots (shots that missed the net), and three blocked shots.

Jeff Halpern left the game, as did Todd Fedoruk. Halpern played his first game without the cage since he was injured. Although, both Halpern and Fedoruk are listed as having the ubiquitous "lower body injury".

The next game is Saturday, 26 December, at home against the Atlanta Thrashers. Game time is the customary 7:30 Eastern. The team has today and tomorrow off, so have a very Merry Christmas.

Flyers vs Lightning coverage [SB Nation]

Broad Street Hockey [SB Nation Philadelphia Flyers site]

Flyers vs Lightning boxscore [TSN]

Roloson's incredible saves

James Mirtle — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 05:12:27 -0000

He was the early star when he dived back into the net after the puck took a wild bounce off the boards behind him and came out in front. Roloson lunged to block Steve Downie's attempt at a wide-open net and then used his left skate to deny Todd Fedoruk's try on the rebound.

The puck remained on the line as the Lightning celebrated what they thought was a goal. But play continued, and a lengthy video replay confirmed that the puck didn't cross the line.

— The Associated Press

Ring Them Bells: Blackhawks 4 - Lightning 0

Matthew Dirt — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 03:47:54 -0000

Lets get this out of the way early - there are two big complaints about this game. The first is the general douchebaggery of the Tampa Bay Lightning, notably Todd Fedoruk and Matt Smaby. Fedoruk had a late hit on Niemi with under 2 minutes left in the game - it's a damn shame that Niittymaki had a killer save to keep the Hawks from putting up a nickle for the night. Smaby was guilty of a trip on Kane that caused him to bang his head off the ice when he couldn't get his arms down to support himself - not too terrible as those things happen. Later in the game though Smaby delivered a late and high hit on Toews that could have taken the captain out again if he wasn't able to brace himself. This also caused Toews to get up and take his wrath out on Matias Ohlund... lucky for him though Toews' wrath consisted mostly of some pushing and probably a few more weird faces..

Don't confuse this with a general complaint of another team targetting our stars - that's to be expected. Smaby just played like a punk with a -17 career rating and a desperate need for his face to be rearranged.

The second major complaint is the fact that for some reason Jim Belushi was allowed anywhere near the Blackhawks. Does anyone in the world like this guy? We all know John Belushi was the shit but he's dead and the last thing we need is some no talent schmuck doing a second rate impersonation of the guy... Jim Belushi is quickly becoming Second City Hockey's public enemy #1. Please never allow him in the building again. Seriously, fuck that guy.

Ok.. now that that's out of the way, lets focus on the good for tonight - and there's plenty of it.

I don't think this was exactly what Sam had in mind when he begged the team to just score in the preview but it was pretty close. Kane's goal almost 8 minutes in was something we've been dying to see for a while. Kane grabbed a pass from Keith and brought it towards the faceoff circles. I saw all lightning players being drawn toward the puck (a common occurrence as we'll see) and screamed for him to hit Keith with the puck as the flash was drifting towards the center of the zone. Instead Kaner ripped a quick as... well.. lightning wrist shot that beat Niittymaki clean. I'll take that too..

The Hawks continued the theme of dominating a game with little to show for it until about halfway through the second when Hossa chased a puck into the corner behind the Bolts net. Our dear old friend Big Country Matt Walker and another defenseman were again both confused as where to go and both weakly chased Panda, leaving Ben Eager streaking towards the net without a defender in the same time zone... Hossa grabbed the puck and wasted no time hitting Eager clean on his tape to take a 2-0 lead.

Not to limit himself to simply pretty passing - Hossa decided to show off hands a bit later, scoring one of those goals where you have to turn to the guy next to you and ask if what you saw just actually happened. In this case, yes, Hossa did actually grab a puck out of mid-air and smack it into the net before it actually hit the ice. He's good.

The third period was again all Hawks as Toews finished off the scoring with another goal that resulted from skating hard towards the net and being ready for a rebound. It was also nice to see Toews lay a big hit on Smaby followed up by drawing a hooking penalty. Toews finished the night with 4 recorded hits..

Random Thoughts:

Just about every Hawk had a great game. I wrote notes mentioning seeing both Brian Campbell and Brent Sopel winning battles along the boards.
If you can, re-watch the game and notice the great stick-play of the defenders, especially Seabrook. The Hawks' d-men are just playing textbook defense, taking away any passing or shooting lanes from the other teams.
Eager had a good showing with a nice physical game when he was needed. Zenon Konopka leads the league in fighting majors but if a player like Eager can drop him that easily he might want to re-think his career plans. Hockey Fights voters only have Konopka winning 3 of his 13 fights this year... soon to be 3 out of 14.
It's obviously poor form to throw punches at a player while he's on the ice - but what is the ruling for a player throwing punches while he's the one on his back? Eager seemed to get a shot or two in after he lost his balance and fell on his back. From the comments section, it seemed like the Bolts announcers had a few problems with that move..
Antti Niemi has played in 8 games this year and has a SV% of 100% in three of them - with another one that was close. I don't really have much to add - that's just pretty damn impressive

Player of the Game:

Another game where it's hard to choose - Niemi got the shutout, Hossa had two beautiful plays and was a force all over the ice, Eager was an assist away from the Gordie Howe Hat Trick, Toews solid all over the ice..

I think I'm going to go with the Happy Panda though - feel free to disagree and tell us who you think is worthy of the prestigious title in the comments..

1 Goal, 1 Assist, +2, 3 SOG, 20:27 TOI - and check out those shoes..

Upper / Lower body injuries - a full bodied scoring blow to the Lightning

John Fontana — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 19:42:19 -0000

More photos » by Chris O'Meara - AP

Steven Stamkos left Wednesday's game against the Edmonton Oilers with an upper body injury. He is listed as day-to-day. . (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

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Ryan Malone and Steven Stamkos are listed as day-to-day with the Lightning after leaving Wednesday night's game with injuries. Malone and Stamkos' injuries were generalized in the ambiguous declarations of "lower body injury" (Malone) and "upper body injury" (Stamkos).

Both players will be with the team in Denver for the Bolts next game against the Avalanche on Friday Night.

While some may panic at the idea the Lightning's two leading scorers are (potentially) out of action for Friday, this becomes the perfect opportunity for other members of the Lightning to step up.

Though it's been suggested the Lightning may make a recall from Norfolk to cover the potential roster deficits, they have the men on-hand to cover the staff loses of Malone and Stamkos: Todd Fedoruk and Kurtis Foster should both start at forward.

Of course, if the injuries are more serious than the day-to-day status (and the health assessment reported by Damian Cristodero at the Times suggested a call up is still likely), then there will indeed be a need for a roster move or two as insurance.

As it stands though, the Bolts may be hurting but their hand has not been forced to make a roster move... Yet.

Game 28 Preview: Avalanche at Lightning

David Driscoll-Carignan — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 13:00:13 -0000


Colorado Avalanche	5:30 MT / 7:30 ET / 12:30 GMT	Tampa Bay Lightning
14-8-5	November 30th, 2009	10-6-8
33 pts	St Pete Times Forum	28 pts
4th in West	Tampa, FL	8th in East

The Colorado Avalanche suffered a huge blow on Saturday when they lost David Jones to a torn ACL, but there's no time to dwell on the disappointing turn of events. The Avs begin a key 5-game road trip tonight in Tampa. Colorado slipped out of the top spot in the NW and dropped from 3rd to 4th in the Western Conference standings this week. They need to stop that slide quickly; seven teams are behind the Avs by just 5 points or less and Colorado needs points to stay ahead of them. Obviously, a few of those elusive 60-minute efforts would really come in handy this week...

Although the Avalanche don't face the Lightning all that often, there are a lot of familiar faces on the Lightning. Besides old friend Alex Tanguay, there are 5 other former players who've played for a NW division team: Mathias Ohlund (Vancouver), David Hale (Calgary) and Kurtis Foster, Stephane "That Ass" Veilleux, Todd Fedoruk (Minnesota). The Lightning also have notable players in Steve Stamkos, Vinny Lecavalier, Martin St Louis and some Victor Hedman fellow. Add in Jeff Halpern, who always seems to do well against the Avalanche, and you've got a lot of familiarity for a team

As you can see by the tale of the tape below, the Lightning, like the Avalanche, are relatively unspectacular on paper. Probably the most notable stats for the Lightning would be that they are 27th in the league in penalty killing and 29th in penalties taken. Not a great combination. The 17 penalty minutes per game is a bit misleading, however, as they include a lot of misconducts and coincidental fighting majors (forward Zenon Konopka has 9 majors and 3 misconducts and leads the league with 93 penalty minutes). In actuality, both teams average 4.2 times shorthanded per game.

A depressing stat to help your Monday get off on the correct foot: the Lightning are averaging about 600 more people per game this year in attendance.

Colorado			Tampa Bay
7th	33	Points	19th	28
10th	2.96	GF/G	18th	2.75
21st	2.93	GA/G	15th	2.79
20th	19.4	PP%	16th	20.2
16th	79.6	PK%	27th	76.2
30th	25.9	S/G	26th	27.8
26th	32.7	SA/G	23rd	31.8
29th	46.6	FO%	11th	51.3
12th	13.1	PIM/G	29th	17.0
Stastny	25 pts	Top Scorer	Stamkos	29 pts

Raw Charge

Avalanche vs Lightning coverage

Today in Colorado Avalanche History: 2007. Subbing for an injured Joe Sakic, TJ Hensick makes his NHL debut in San Jose.

Tampa Bay Lightning Game 13: at the Toronto Maple Leafs

Cassie McClellan — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:03:37 -0000

More photos » by NATHAN DENETTE - AP

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The Tampa Bay Lightning won their first road game of the season against the Toronto Maple Leafs – in overtime, no less – 2-1.

It was difficult to tell if this game was better for the Lightning or not. It’s no secret that the Leafs are struggling, so it may have been a game between two equal teams in the midst of their struggles as opposed to anybody actually playing better. But whatever the case, Tampa Bay pulled out the win.

Vincent Lecavalier scored his second goal of the season (as one person said on the game thread last night, he’s finally caught up to Todd Fedoruk). He also had six shots on goal as well as two hits. However, don’t be fooled by his seemingly better play. The Detroit Red Wings’ Steve Yzerman, the Hockey Canada Olympic team general manager, was in the crowd scouting. Interestingly enough, Steven Stamkos and Martin St. Louis were rather quiet, despite that. St. Louis did have four steals on the night, though.

It was an opportunity for Vinny to show Yzerman how he can play in person. Which isn’t to say that Lecavalier isn’t on the start of something good, and perhaps I’m being a bit cynical about this, but only time will tell if Vinny’s starting to work out of his mental slump or not. Still, any little bit helps – and you just never know what it might take to snap Lecavalier out of his funk. Hopefully, Yzerman’s presence did that.

Ryan Malone netted the game winner on a questionable play. He really should’ve gotten called for goaltender interference on the goal he scored in overtime. I’m not sure why they allowed that goal to stand, quite frankly – but I’ll take it. He had six shots on goal, as well as five hits. Jeff Halpern also had a pretty good night. But, again, that’s not so surprising when you consider that USA Hockey’s Olympic team general manager – and head coach – were in the building. Toronto’s Brian Burke and Ron Wilson are still deciding on Team USA’s roster as well.

In my opinion, the other stars of the night – besides Lecavalier – were Antero Niittymaki and Mattias Ohlund. I don’t think anyone can question that Niittymaki has quietly stolen the number one job away from Mike Smith. It’s just a matter of time before the coaching staff accepts that. Again, he was the best player on the ice for the Lightning. He made very few mistakes, was calm and competent, and was always where he needed to be.

And THAT was the Ohlund that I remember from the Vancouver Canucks. That’s how Mattias plays during playoffs, though. He’s not quite so intense, physical, and edgy during the regular season, so don’t expect that every game from him. But that’s how Ohlund can play while at the top of his game. I’ve been expecting a more toned down version of that all along, so it’s nice to see that from him.

The constant parade to the penalty box by the Lightning defensemen was not good to see. (Andrej Meszaros and David Hale were the only defensemen to not have a penalty called on them.) But even the Maple Leafs fans that I encountered afterward agreed that some of those calls against the Lightning weren’t necessary. Even though they lost the game, they were complaining about the officiating against Tampa Bay – and the fact that they only converted on one of the eight power plays that they were awarded (as compared to the three that the Lightning had).

So everyone knew and agreed that the officiating was definitely questionable. However, you shouldn’t have to depend on officiating to win a game. Thankfully, the Lightning figured that part out this time.

The Lightning were still outshot 32-41, but at least they managed more shots than they have been recently. Faceoffs were very poor agains the Leafs, with the team only winning a total of 39% all game. However, Zenon Konopka still won 71% of the ones he took (5-2). The team had 24 blocked shots, with Ohlund, Meszaros, and Matt Walker each blocking five. The Lightning also had 30 hits (as compared to the Leafs 13) with Malone and Ohlund each with five.

The next game is at the Ottawa Senators Thursday at 7:30 pm ET, and it will be televised in the Tampa area.

Tampa Bay Lightning Game 11: versus the New Jersey Devils

Cassie McClellan — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 17:02:56 -0000

More photos » by Mike Carlson - AP

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The Tampa Bay Lightning lost to the New Jersey Devils in another shootout 2-1.

On Halloween night, the scariest part of this game was perhaps the shot total for the Lightning. New Jersey outshot the Lightning 38-19. After that, it was probably the shootout, but we'll get to that in a minute.

Now, Martin Brodeur might go down as being the greatest goaltender of all-time in the NHL in the record books, but not even he has a 0.00 GAA or a 1.000 SV%. If you don't shoot, you can't score, and it doesn't matter who's in net for the opposing team. In fact, if you're playing against a particularly good goaltender on a hot streak, you should shoot more than you normally would in order to get something past him.

Antero Niittymaki was by far the best player on the ice for Tampa Bay. As he has been for all of his NHL starts with this team this season. Nothing against Mike Smith at all - Smith just needs to get used to playing with a decent defense in front of him, unlike last season when he had to do it all himself. Niittymaki was calm, and on top of everything. Yes, one goal did get past him in regulation, but that was due to a defensive breakdown in front of him by Victor Hedman.

Hedman, while he's definitely one of the top defensemen for the Lightning, is showing that he is an 18-year-old rookie after all. He doesn't look as comfortable as he did at the start of the season, nor is he as consistent. Against Ottawa in the previous game, he had four giveaways, for example. But that's to be expected as he not only needs to get used to playing in NHL players, but he also needs to adapt to the size of NHL ice rinks.

Other than Niittymaki, the best player on the ice was Vincent Lecavalier. He wasn't that great in the faceoff circle, winning only 4-13 (24%), but everyone has an off night doing something or another. In all other aspects, he played well. Of the Lightning's 19 total shots, Vinny had five. And he also had two hits. He plays his best when he's hitting and running the ice, I've noticed.

This game should never have gone into a shootout. Of course, I'm of the opinion that few games should go to a shootout - not because I don't like shootouts, but because there's always something the team should've done better to avoid them. In this instance, if they'd shot more, it probably wouldn't have gone to overtime in the first place.

As I've said before, I think their problems with the shootout are simple. They're concentrating more on themselves than what the goaltenders have done that game. Scouting reports on the goalies are important when it comes to shootouts, but so is paying attention to what the goalies are doing during the game. If it were me, I'd be asking my own goaltender what he saw of the other one at the other end. Goalies see more than people think.

As for the rest of the team, I thought that Jeff Halpern had a good game, going 13-6 in the faceoff circle (68%). Despite getting the game-tying goal, I didn't think Steven Stamkos had a very good night. Matt Walker also played very well, as did Alex Tanguay for the last half of the game. And, again, that line of Todd Fedoruk, Zenon Konopka, and Steve Downie was great. I was happy to see them get more ice time.

The next game in Philadelphia is a 5 o'clock start due to the World Series.

Game 12 Preview: New Jersey Devils at Tampa Bay Lightning - 10/31/2009

John Fischer — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 12:15:13 -0000

More photos » by Chris O'Meara - AP

The last time the Devils were in Tampa Bay, Travis Zajac (seen here) scored a last-second equalizer. The Devils went on to win their first game thanks to that and the shootout. Will Zajac score again today? (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

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The Time: 3 PM EST

The Broadcasting Info: MSG+ for your TV, 660 AM WFAN for your radio.

The Matchup: The New Jersey Devils (7-4-0) at the Tampa Bay Lightning (4-3-3)

The Last Devils Game: It was tight, it was close, and Johnny Oduya left early due to injury. But Yann Danis was solid, the Devils pounced on two pucks that got through Tim Thomas' pads, and the Devils won 2-1. My recap of the game can be found here.

The Last Lightning Game: The Lightning just beat on the Ottawa Senators. Steve Stamkos was a Senator-wrecking force with 2 goals and faceoff domination, Mike Smith held up well, and Ryan Malone got his first assist (to go with his eighth goal). Cassie at Raw Charge saw the game from a different angle and stated as such in her recap.

The Last Game These Two Played: The Devils started off well, then the Lightning hit back with a 25-shot second period. The Devils fell behind 3-2 and got a last-second equalizer from Travis Zajac. The Devils eventually won in the shootout, spoiling Tampa Bay's home opener and earning the team's first victory this season. In retrospect, an early turning point.

The Goal: I feel that the Devils need to take initiative to win today's game. That means more than just getting the game's first goal. It means starting off each period - not just the first - with some strong shifts. It means dictating the pace of the game. It means stepping up to Tampa Bay's big offensive weapons in Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis, Steve Stamkos, and Ryan Malone. In Boston, the Bruins usually made the first move and at times, it really pinned back the Devils into precarious situations. Today, the defense is even thinner, and I think repeating the same approach would lead to the Lightning taking quick advantage.

Read on for guesses at lines, further thoughts about the game, and insight about the Lightning as Cassie of Raw Charge has answered some questions about the team.

Devils head coach Jacques Lemaire was upfront about some of the lineup changes for today's game. According to Tom Gulitti's report yesterday, Lemaire said that Martin Brodeur will get the start, Cory Murphy will be on defense, and the remaining veteran Devils defensemen will get the lionshare of minutes with Paul Martin and Johnny Oduya out with injury. I would guess that based on what Gulitti saw in practice yesterday, Lemaire will likely keep the same lines from the Boston win, at least to start the game. I honestly felt that Andrew Peters played relatively well in Boston, so I think he'll get another game and play this afternoon:

Zach Parise - Dainius Zubrus - Jamie Langenbrunner
Brian Rolston - Travis Zajac - Ilkka Pikkarainen
Nicklas Bergfors - Rob Niedermayer - David Clarkson
Andrew Peters - Rod Pelley - Matt Halischuk

Colin White - Mike Mottau
Cory Murphy - Bryce Salvador
Mark Fraser - Andy Greene

Martin Brodeur
Yann Danis

A few words are necessary about the defense. First, I'm guessing on the pairings, but I'd be surprised if Lemaire pairs Cory Murphy and Mark Fraser. That would be a big gift for Rick Tocchet and the Lightning offense; I would think he would challenge that pairing as much as possible. Fraser is still inexperienced, the most he has played so far was 12:52 against Boston. He'll get limited minutes. Given that Murphy hasn't played in quite a bit of time, he's going to have some rust. Even if he didn't, the Tampa Bay staff knows what he can do and they can respond to him accordingly.

Second, I'm fully aware of Lemaire's pronouncement that White, Mottau, Salvador, and Greene will all have heavy workloads. I understand it. They're the vets on the blueline and they know what to expect out of Tampa Bay. But I really hope Fraser is given 14 minutes or so and Murphy can play about 16 minutes. That would ease some of the extra minutes because, really, do we want Mike Mottau putting in a 26+ minute effort in a second consecutive game?

Third, because Tampa Bay is so dangerous on offense, it is imperative that the defensemen as well as the forwards are committed to their positioning and their focus on defense. They will not succeed today by chasing down the Bolts in their own zone. They will not succeed today if they allow 25 shots in the second period. They will not succeed if they hand Tampa Bay power play after power play. They will not succeed if they allow Lecavalier, St. Louis, Stamkos, and Malone to have free reign in their shots. I mean, look at these stats just for Malone and Stamkos:

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2009 - Steven Stamkos	10	9	5	14	3	6	5	0	1	0	41	22.0

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2009 - Ryan Malone	10	8	2	10	1	4	1	0	3	0	29	27.6

Yeah. And those aren't even the "big names," though Stamkos will be in short order. Speaking of, Lecavalier's actually struggling to score goals. Cassie explained the situation further yesterday at Raw Charge. All the same, with 9 assists and his natural talent, he's still a threat. The Devils shouldn't give him the opportunities to break his goal-scoring slump. I cannot emphasize the importance of preventative defense and discipline enough. If the Devils want to win their seventh straight road game, this is a key within the game.

Sure, the Devils' offense could have a banner day and just make it rain goals. But just the mere fact that the Devils haven't scored more than 4 goals in a game and no more than 2 in one period means that's a false hope. The offense needs to put consistent pressure on the Lightning defense if only to relieve the Devils' defense of playing so much in their own end. Of course, they'll need to score when possible; but their goal should be to do what is needed to avoid relying on the defense and Martin Brodeur to bail out the team. I fear that Tampa Bay will eventually break through if given enough chances.

To learn more about the Lightning, I asked the writers of Raw Charge some questions about how the team is performing. Cassie responded to the questions in a very in-depth, insightful way, and I thank her for taking the time to respond. It's quite a bit to take in, but it's well worth your while in terms of learning about the Lightning. Besides, this is In Lou We Trust; if you've been reading here even for a little bit, you're used to plenty of words as-is.

Question #1. The New Jersey Devils basically shocked the Lightning with a last-second equalizer earlier this month and went on to win in the shootout. Do you think that game will motivate or effect how Tampa Bay plans to play the Devils this afternoon? Or will they be energized in general for their recent beatdown on Ottawa?

CM: The Lightning have reacted well so far to teams that have beaten them in games that they’ve felt they should have won. In the previous game against Ottawa last Thursday, for instance, they made sure to shut down the Senators scorers – and were successful at it. However, since they were so successful against Ottawa, that might lull them into a false sense of complacency. Because this team is still trying to find its way to winning on a consistent basis, they can be unpredictable as to how they might react.

Question #2. The Lightning have been good at generating shots on net with an average of 30.4 shots per game, the 12th best in the league. However, they are conceding an average of 31.4 shots against per game, the 24th best in the league. Why are the Lightning giving up so many shots so far this season?

CM: In recent games, the Lightning haven’t been shooting as much as they had been the first few games of the season. It may be because they’ve been focusing on other things in practice, or perhaps it’s because they’re slipping back into the bad habits of last season. Then again, it might have something to do with the constant juggling of players between lines. But at this point, it’s hard to say exactly why they’ve been shooting less.

Having said that, a reason why they’ve been allowing so many shots is because the defense has a tendency to want to help out offensively. They’re just not staying back to cover the defensive zone as much as they should. This has led them to be greatly out of position at times, which allows other teams to get into their zone and get off shots.

Question #3. Let's talk goalies. Tampa Bay's #1, Mike Smith, has had some fantastic moments followed by some real poor moments across this young season. Is consistency an issue that Smith himself has to correct or is it more of a byproduct of his relative inexperience, which will become less of an issue over time?

CM: It’s probably a combination of both inexperience and how he plays, but mostly, it’s probably just the mental aspect of his game.

Last season, when he knew he couldn’t depend upon the defense to help him, he was a wall. He had an outrageous 2.62 GAA and a 0.916 SV% on a team that finished 24-48-10, used 22 players on their blue line, and ended up 29^th overall in the league last season . He had no defensive support from anybody; he knew that he had to do it all himself, so he did.

Now that he has a good defensive group in front of him, he has a tendency to think the defensemen will get more pucks and players then they really do. So he sits back more instead of challenging shooters like he did last season because he doesn’t think he has to. And, obviously, he’s gotten burned by doing that. So once he gets used to playing with the defense, instead of being separate from the defense, he should do alright.

Question #4. Most Devils fans are concerned with Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis when they see Tampa Bay on the schedule. And I'm sure a few are becoming just as aware of Steve Stamkos, having seen Stamkos perform well against New Jersey. Are there any "unsung" players on the Lightning that the Devils should be especially concerned with in today's game?

CM: The Lightning’s fourth line has been their best and most consistent line so far this season. You wouldn’t expect that, since it’s Todd Fedoruk, Zenon Konopka, and Steve Downie (yes, THAT Steve Downie), but they’ve really clicked. They play a tough, offensive, smart, and very disciplined game. They’ll definitely make fools out of teams that try to goad them into something they shouldn’t instead of taking them seriously. Konopka leads the league in faceoff win percentage, actually.

Question #5. Lastly, how about a prediction for today's game?

CM: The Devils are missing LW Jay Pandolfo (shoulder), LW Patrik Elias (groin), and possibly D Johnny Oduya (lower body) as well. Not only that, Rob Niedermayer is goalless in seven games, and Brian Rolston is goalless in six games. Martin Brodeur can only take the team so far with his goaltending.

The Lightning, on the other hand, have Steven Stamkos (9 goals), Ryan Malone (8 goals), Martin St. Louis (14 points during a 10-game streak – longest point streak in the NHL this season), and Mike Smith who’s finally looking very comfortable in net. The only player missing from Tampa Bay’s lineup right now is defenseman Paul Ranger, and that’s due to personal reasons and not injury.

I’d have to give this game to the Lightning. Unless they’re mentally unprepared to play – yet again. But I’m going to be optimistic and say Tampa Bay 3, New Jersey 1.

Of course, I must disagree with her prediction. But the general sentiment should be clearly understood: Tampa Bay is definitely not a doormat team. They haven't even lost in regulation at home this season. Which is why I feel it's imperative that the Devils make the first move, set the tempo, and make this afternoon theirs to win. If the Devils can catch the Tampa Bay defense on their heels and capitalize, then that will go a long way to achieving victory along with playing some solid defense.

It won't be easy without Martin and Oduya, but it never really is easy in the NHL. The Devils got the job done in Boston, here's hoping that the Devils can do it again. For the Lightning side, Raw Charge is the place you should visit. Steve will have the GameThread up later; I'll join in for most of the game - recap will be a little later that evening, but not too much. Thanks for reading, leave your thoughts about tonight's game in the comments, and Go Devils!

About Vincent Lecavalier's scoring drought....

Cassie McClellan — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 21:00:39 -0000

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If someone had told you before the season began that Todd Fedoruk would have scored more goals than Vincent Lecavalier ten games in, you’d have thought they were crazy. But, here we are ten games in, and it’s true. Fedoruk just scored his second goal of the season last night, while Vinny still has one goal so far.

Yes, this is unusual for Lecavalier. And yes, he doesn’t have an excuse to fall back on like rehabbing from injury. But, really, is that any reason to panic? We all know that he can score goals. Ten games into an 82-game season isn’t much. So why make an issue of it?

Vinny, at least, has nine assists to go with his one goal – and that’s still a point per game. Alex Tanguay has had four seasons where he’s been at that pace – a point a game – but he only has one goal and three assists. Jeff Halpern doesn’t have any points yet this season, and Halpern’s pace is usually at about a point every two games.

Of course, Steven Stamkos, Ryan Malone, and Martin St. Louis are making those guys look worse than they really are. There’s no doubt that Stamkos is on a tear right now with nine goals – two of which were scored last night. Malone’s not far behind him, either, with eight goals scored. And St. Louis has at least a point in every game this season so far; 14 points in 10 games ain’t too shabby.

But that line clicked; they had outstanding chemistry from the outset. And that’s really the problem: There isn’t two of St. Louis for both Stamkos and Lecavalier to play with. Vinny doesn’t lack talent, and he’s not a has-been at the age of 29. Vinny lacks chemistry with the guys on his line.

The number of goals scored is important, but perhaps people ought to take +/- into consideration. Some see it as a useless stat, but it does serve a purpose. Right now, Matt Walker leads the team with a +7, while at the other extreme another defenseman, Andrej Meszaros, is a -7. Despite their goal scoring, Stamkos and Malone are only +3 and +1, respectively. While St. Louis is a -3 and Lecavalier is a -5. Perhaps they need to work on their defense a little bit?

Really, so long as the team is winning, does it matter if Vinny is scoring or not? True, scoring goals is a big part of his job, but the bottom line is the number of W’s in the win column, not Vinny getting a scoring title while the Lightning miss the playoffs – yet again. As captain, he does have other responsibilities, and perhaps those are more important than scoring right now.

Personally, I’d rather he have a slow start and a strong finish to the season. Although, I’m sure Lecavalier himself wouldn’t, as he is still trying make the Canadian Olympic team. At this point, however, it looks as if Stamkos might’ve jumped over him in the depth chart for Team Canada. But it’s still far too early for any of that. It’s not so much how they’re playing now, but how they’re playing a month before the Olympics that really matters.

Seriously, which is more important: scoring or leadership? Obviously, you’d like to have both, but not everyone is Mark Messier. Sometimes you get one or the other instead of both, and that’s alright. Right now, Lecavalier is providing good leadership, and he’s been much better with that this season than last, I think. The scoring will come – probably sooner rather than later, too.

Tampa Bay Lightning Game 10: versus the Ottawa Senators

Cassie McClellan — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:15:21 -0000

More photos » by Chris O'Meara - AP

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The Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Ottawa Senators at home 5-2.

Have you ever gone to a game with friends and afterwards started talking about what happened only to find out that the game you saw was nothing like the game everyone else saw? My sister and I would do that all the time. It finally got to the point where we’d ask each other how the game she went to was on the drive home.

That’s how this game was for me. On the game thread last night, everyone else all saw something completely different from what I saw. (Which, by the way, anyone is always welcome to join in on.) So if you don’t agree with my assessment, that’s alright since no one else seemed to, either.

I thought that they came out flat. Both teams. There wasn’t a lot of energy, and everyone – particularly the Lightning – looked tired. There was a lot of skating, but not a lot of jump. Vincent Lecavalier was one of the worst in not looking like he was physically ready to play. Mentally he was there, but physically, he did a lot of standing around looking pretty. And Martin St. Louis wasn’t that much better, either.

St. Louis had a penalty shot early in this game. I think that strip shootout game really lowered his self-confidence when it comes to skating one-on-one with a goalie. He didn't score - he shot high and wide - but he didn't look very comfortable doing it from the outset, either.

Steven Stamkos was on, tho. He had a fantastic game – the guy was everywhere. He had six shots on goal, was 11-5 in the faceoff circle (winning 69% of his faceoffs), and ended the night with two goals scored and an assist. Ryan Malone had a good night, too, with one goal (his eight on the season) and his first assists, if you can believe that. He also won both of the faceoffs that he ended up taking.

Alex Tanguay finally scored his first goal of the season, and it was a very nice one. He had had a breakaway chance earlier in the game that was stopped by a good Ottawa goaltender. David Hale and Kurtis Foster also had pretty solid efforts

And Mike Smith had a great night as well. Don’t let those two goals that Ottawa score at the end of the night fool you. Smith stood on his head when necessary. He looked very comfortable and very confident in net. And that’s definitely a good thing.

The best line of the night, tho, was the Todd Fedoruk, Zenon Konopka, and Steve Downie line. It’s not often that you can say that about a fourth line, but those guys together have been consistently the best line for the Lightning so far this season. Unlike the other three lines, they’ve really clicked. They’re tough, very disciplined, and can actually score. And Konopka is just amazing at faceoffs – which, really, who knew? I hope Tocchet and company keeps them together for a good long while.

Finally, let’s all welcome James Wright to the NHL. He’s played his 10 NHL game, which means he can’t be sent back to his major junior team, the Vancouver Giants of the WHL. So he is now an official NHLer. Enjoy the start of a sooner-than-expected, shiny new NHL career.

As a side note, the Tampa Bay Lightning have reached 11 points in the standings with this win. Last season, they'd made it to 10 points in 13 games. This season, it only took 10 games. So that is definitely an improvement. Though, it could've been done sooner with some of those shootout losses from earlier this season.