SB Nation - Mike Smith

Howard, Wings Blank Bolts 3-0; Lose Zetterberg to Injury

MrNorrisTrophy — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 14:38:49 -0000

Jimmy Howard earned his first career shutout as the Red Wings defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-0 on Thursday night. But the win came after a huge loss as Henrik Zetterberg was injured on a collision with Swedish teammate Mattias Ohlund. Zetterberg's long term status is unknown as of now and leaves the Red Wings without 9 regulars...9 I said.

Zetterberg was injured in the first period while reaching for a stray pass from Ville Leino. Zetterberg was outstretched and the much larger Ohlund put his shoulder into Zetterberg--a clean hit by all means--and dropped him to the ice. Patrick Eaves took immediate exception to the play (finally, someone standing up) and was shoving Ohlund along the boards.

The Wings scored at 8:24 of the first as Drew Miller and Brian Rafalski combined for a great goal. Miller came off the bench and Rafalski spotted him from deep in the defensive zone and chucked a puck up ice that Miller knocked down to have a breakaway against Tampa Bay's goalie Mike Smith. Smith went for the poke check and Miller flipped it up over just before the attempt to score his 4th of the year, also coming against his former team. Take that TB front office!

Todd Bertuzzi continued his recent hot streak by scoring his 9th goal of the year during the 3rd period. The play started with a Pavel Datsyuk trademarked offensive zone takeaway. Datsyuk got it to Tomas Holmstrom and Holmstrom's pass was tipped in by Bertuzzi for a 2-0 Detroit lead at 6:48 of the third. Patrick Eaves tapped a Nick Lidstrom pass in behind Mike Smith for a 3-0 lead with 9:10 remaining; more than enough with the way the Howard was playing.

The Detroit win was also head coach Mike Babcock's 300th career win. Along with Howard's first career shutout, the two accomplishments were overshadowed by yet another injury. More on the injury to Zetterberg as it is made known. Howard's shutout marked his 11th win of the year as he stopped all 30 Tampa Bay shots. His GAA is creeping down with his great performances lately and he has won 6 of the last 8 games he started.

MrNorrisTrophy's Wing of the Game: Jimmy Howard. Howie played great in net tonight, stopping every single Tampa Bay shot. He stonewalled excellent scorers like Vinny Lecavlier and Alex Tanguay. The confidence train is a-rollin' for Jimmy.

Jimmy Howard

#35 / Goalie / Detroit Red Wings

Height: 6-0

Weight: 210

Born: Mar 26, 1984

Pain Tolerance and Stupidity

John Fontana — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 22:14:27 -0000

More photos » by Chris O'Meara - AP

Victor Hedman is a game-time decision tonight versus the Red Wings (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

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To be a coach in pro sports, you don't just have to inspire your roster, but you have to be involved -- teaching, judging talent, putting together the best lineup for each game. And of course, knowing when to say when for the best interests of your hockey team and franchise.

That being said, it's not a position where you should risk the future of young players by letting them judge how much ice time they get or how ready they are to return from injury. We saw this with Steven Stamkos playing against Colorado: Rick Tocchet let him play despite not being able to take face offs and take shots. Basically playing a neutered Stamkos who judged himself ready to play when he most certainly wasn't.

What good was it to let Stamkos decide his own fate? Does it coddle Tocchet's own ego of wanting toughness and grit in his players?

Now it's Victor Hedman. Big Vik took a slap shot off his foot yesterday and it's swollen up. Unable to participate in the morning skate at Joe Louis Arena, Hedman is a game time decision for tonight's match up with the Red Wings. Hedman's aware the Lightning need their best lineup together tonight:

"It's very close," Hedman said. "But it's also uncomfortable. If I don't feel 100 percent I shouldn't play. We need guys to be at 100 percent. But we need these two points. I want to be on the ice and help to get those."

But isn't the best lineup the one that lets Hedman get healthy for the long season yet to come? Or is it the one that makes sure he shows he can tolerate pain?

Tocchet is quoted in the same article and this just disturbs me as a coach who isn't drawing the line on his players.

"I don't know if he's going to play tonight or not," coach Rick Tocchet said. "We'll ice it today and see if he can put his boot on."

Tocchet said the issue is more pain tolerance than anything else.

"You leave it up to the player," he said. "Pain tolerance and ice. I don't know anything else."

For those of you who see this as a throwback to the days of yore, ask yourself this: Is it better to risk the long term health of the Tampa Bay Lightning's young stars or to revisit nostalgia of players like Bob Probert and Tocchet himself?

Putting players at risk of worsening an injury -- not a cosmetic one, not a cut or busted teeth, not a black eye, but a bruised or broken bone -- where did we see this before? Oh yes, I recall, the 2008-09 Tampa Bay Lightning season. 22 different defensemen used by the Bolts, 52 different players in all. One of the highlights was Mike Smith playing regularly after suffering a concussion and putting his career in jeopardy by aggravating his concussion and suffering post concussion symptoms that ended his season. Smith has not been the same player as he was before the injury in December of 2008.

Ice and pain tolerance does not make up for the damage done by trying to prove grit, and a head coach should know better than to just let his guys go, regardless. That's a mandate in any league, not "if you're ready to go, you are going", or failing to be able to say "you're sitting" to an injured player. That's what's put Stamkos at risk, that's what will put Hedman at risk, that's what ruined Mike Smith. A failure of a coach to judge.

Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it... And "ice and pain tolerance" are not going to improve the overall play of a hockey club that is being led further to ruin. After last season, you would expect Tocchet to havelearned that lesson.

[This post was last edited by John Fontana, 12/17/09 5:50 PM EST ]

Lightning look to rebound while visiting Motown; Bolts at Red Wings preview

John Fontana — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 15:28:40 -0000

More photos » by Mike Carlson - AP

Alex Tanguay feels singled-out after his healthy scratch earlier this week. (AP Photo/Mike Carlson)

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WHERE: Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, Michigan
WHEN: 7:30 PM EST
MEDIA: Sun Sports (cable), 620 WDAE (radio)

Alex Tanguay feels singled out after his benching on Tuesday:

"I'm working as hard as I can, and I'm watching games, too," Tanguay said. "I made mistakes, but I think out of the un-success we've had the last 10 games, I must not be the only one … and I'm the one who ends up paying the price. I don't think that's 100 percent fair."
For the record, Jeff Halpern was also benched... So Tanguay wasn't singled out. Made an example of? Now that's a different story, and the team didn't exactly respond.
Vincent Lecavalier hopes he's turned the corner after his three-point performance in Nashville.

"I'm hoping it's going to build," he said Wednesday. "I've been feeling better as the year has gone on. Scoring chances have definitely been there, so, yeah, I'm hoping to keep going."
...now just when are they going to get on Martin St. Louis' back as much as they've gotten on Lecavalier and Tanguay for lack-of-production? I say that because of the hypocrisy, not because of dislike for St. Louis.
Victor Hedman took a Kurtis Foster slap shot off his foot during practice yesterday.

Hedman continued practicing but took any chance he could to keep weight off his left foot. He limped to the locker room after practice and limped through the arena hallway toward the team bus with his left shoe untied.

He's a hockey player, of course, and said, "I can play."
The Detroit Red Wings' defensive corp is in flux with thanks to injuries, but head coach Mike Babcock is dismissive:

"If we're waiting for them, we're not making the playoffs,'' he said. "So our attitude is just find a way to win every night. I think guys have done a real good job with that, played really hard, given us a chance. That's all you can ask for. We're hanging in there.''

Detroit is an even point better than the Lightning on both the Power Play (19.4% compared to 18.4%) and penalty kill (80.4% compared to 79.4%). That puts Detroit right in the middle of the league in both categories (15th and 16th, respectively). It's also a sign of the Lightning actually improving somewhere in their game while the team flounders in the standings.

Detroit, however, also leads the league in shots... Averaging 33.9. With how porous the Lightning's goaltending was in Nashville, Mike Smith (the likely starter) better be out to redeem himself for the sieve effort that began his mop-up duty for Antero Niittymaking (13 shots, 10 saves, first two shots faced were goals).

The Red Wings are also coming off a trio of 3-2 wins, the last being over the Phoenix Coyotes. They've won four of their past five (while the Lightning have one of their past ten). Henrik Zetterberg leads the Wings with 32 points (10 goals, 22 assists).

After this game, the Bolts head to St. Louis to face the Blues tomorrow before ending the road trip on Long Island this weekend.

We'll have line combos for the Lightning posted later, here is what Detroit's forward line combo likely will be (by way of Mlive.com ):

Bertuzzi-Datsyuk-Holmstrom
Leino-Zetterberg-Eaves
Draper-Abdelkader-Miller
May-Newbury-Maltby

[Note by John Fontana, 12/17/09 5:27 PM EST ] The lineup is admittedly best guess. Zenon Konopka is supposed to be hurting, Steve Downie suffered a concussion in Nashville and Hedman is hurt. I expect Zenon to play but smart moves would have the others rest.

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Tampa Bay Lightning Game 33: at the Nashville Predators

Cassie McClellan — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 14:00:46 -0000

More photos » by Mark Humphrey - AP

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The Tampa Bay Lightning lost to the Nashville Predators 7-4.

It’s always very frustrating when you can’t watch a game. Radio is fine, if you’re familiar with the team and the announcer, but you do miss a lot of what’s going on. But that’s the same with watching games on TV versus watching games live – there is so much going on behind the play that you just don’t get to see on TV. In the case of this game against the Preds, it was probably for the best that it wasn’t televised after all.

The first period started the game off well enough. The Lightning were up 2-1 at the end of the first. Vincent Lecavalier and Steven Stamkos had scored the two Lightning goals, and things seemed to be headed in the right direction.

And then things went terribly wrong somehow in the second. Nashville scored five goals that period. Antero Niittymaki was pulled after letting in four total goals on 14 shots. And then Mike Smith let in two goals on the first two shots he faced. It might’ve been nice to see exactly where and why the collapse happened just for that – as ugly as it probably was.

The best player for the Lightning was by far Lecavalier, from what I could tell. He scored two goals – his first two-goal game of the season – and one of those was his first power play goal of the season as well. He had seven shots on goal out of the team’s total 34, and was 15-9 (63%) in the faceoff circle. The strange part was that, usually when Vinny’s having a good game, the rest of the team typically feeds off of that and plays better, too. In this case, they didn’t seem to. At. All.

They dominated in many ways statistically. They out-shot Nashville 34-27. They won the majority of their faceoffs, winning 57%. They out-hit the Predators 21-17. But they couldn’t play defense to save their lives.

Highlights from NHL.tv

The next game is Thursday, 17 December, at the Detroit Red Wings. Starting time is 7:30 pm Eastern. Let’s see who else off the Wings will get injured, shall we? (Hopefully no one, but that seems to be their thing so far this season.)

Lightning vs Predators coverage [SB Nation]

On the Forecheck [SB Nation Nashville Predators site]

Lightning vs Predators recap [TSN]

Lightning vs Predators boxscore [TSN]

Deep dishin': Lightning at Chicago Blackhawks preview [UPDATED]

John Fontana — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 18:39:29 -0000

Yeah, it's a little childish to bring up s293978832.onlinehome.us

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WHERE: United Center, Chicago, Illinois
WHEN: 7 PM EST
MEDIA: Sun Sports (cable), 620 WDAE (radio)

Friday night witnessed the Lightning come out, guns blazing, and then run out of gas for the third period, giving up their slim lead and then losing in the shootout. Ample blame can be given to altitude adjustment or the lack-there-off for the team...

...But the better questionis, how will they play now that they are much closer to sea-level? Will they regress back into a no-effort group that doesn't put forth an effort until the third? Or could they possibly play 60 minutes in a contest against one of the Western Conference leaders?

At 18-10-6, the Blackhawks are not just one of the top teams in the west, but one of the top teams in the entire league. 41 points in 34 games... That's as formidable as they come.

The 'Hawks are coming off a 2-1 loss at the hands of the Sabres, ... And it would almost look like the 'Hawks are going through a rough patch with scoring (that sounds so familiar, who does it remind you of?). Sam from Second City Hockey described the phase in his recap of the Buffalo game:

It's obviously a phase, as the Hawks can't keep throwing 40 shots at the net per game and keep coming out with one or two goals. At the same time, you can't ignore that the Hawks haven't put up more than 3 goals in a game since administering Catherine The Great's Death to the Sharks in San Jose. The last thing anyone expected this team to struggle with was scoring. It's hardly panic time about it, barely worry time. You get the feeling some poor team is really going to pay when the Hawks bust out of it.

That 40-shot thing isn't much of an embellishment: They're taking 32.5 shots on average a night while limiting opponents to just over 24. Knowing how the Bolts can do the Jekyll-and-Hyde thing with efforts, I would not put it out of the question for the Lightning to be the victims of a Chicago offensive reinvigoration. With the Bolts struggling to clear the zone and prevent shots, expecting whomever starts in net to face a shooting gallery is likely.

Chicago boasts the 9th rated power play unit in the league with a 20.8 percent scoring rate, while their penalty kill is a formidable 84.5%. Patrick "Twenty Cent" Kane leads the Blackhawks in scoring with 29 points, but the offensive attack is well rounded for the 'Hawks -- while no one has broken the double-digit goal plateau yet this season (...yet), four players on the team have nine (Kane, Kris Versteeg, Dustin Byfuglien and Patrick Sharp).

There have been no formal announcements of who starts and who sites tonight, I am guessing we'll see the same lineup from Friday's game in Denver but with Mike Smith starting instead of Niittymaki. We'll see by game time.

[Note by John Fontana, 12/13/09 4:26 PM EST ] Niittymaki gets the start in net.

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Flyers Desperate for Goalie, Calling Atlanta?

The Falconer — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 21:35:35 -0000

More photos » by DARRYL DYCK - AP

8 days ago: Vancouver Canucks' Mason Raymond, left, ducks to avoid a slapshot as Atlanta Thrashers' Ondrej Pavelec, of the Czech Republic, makes a blocker save during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Vancouver, British Columbia on Thursday, Dec. 10, 2009. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Darryl Dyck)

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The suburban Philadelphia Delaware County Times ran a story by Anthony J. Sanflippo speculating that the Flyers are trying hard to trade for a goalie with a big injury to the Philadelphia starting goaltender Ray Emery.

An inordinate number of visiting scouts were jammed into the press box Thursday to watch two struggling teams in the Flyers and the Senators. While the 16 men representing 14 different organizations could have been there to look at the Sens or just for a night out, there was enough rumbling to think they might be there scouting the Flyers because they are in need of another goalie with Ray Emery on the shelf for at least six weeks.
...

Apparently, the sharks are circling around the Flyers. According to another organizational source, the Tampa Bay Lightning, ready to hand their starting job to Antero Niittymaki, contacted the Flyers to gauge their interest in goalie Mike Smith.

Apparently the Flyers are "shocked! shocked!" that other teams in the Eastern Conference would try and screw them over! Let's think about this for a moment. There are 15 teams in the East and just 8 playoff spots. The Devils, Caps and Pens are probably all locks to make the post-season. The Canes and Leafs are probably locks to miss. That means there are 10 East teams fighting for 5 playoff berths. Each team has only a 50% chance of getting in. Guess which teams might have a spare goalie? Atlanta, Islanders and Tampa--all playoff contenders. All three of those teams have a strong self interest in watching the Flyers totally fall out of the playoff race (Flyers currently sit at #11 in the conference standings. If the Flyers do fall out that then leaves 9 teams battling for 5 spots. All the other GMs have to do is just sit back and enjoy the show. Why should they bail out the Flyers who spent big on Pronger and went cheap on goalie depth?

One of the teams with two scouts at the game was the Atlanta Thrashers, who have three goalies. Kari Lehtonen hasn’t played yet this season, recovering from two surgeries on his back, but he is expected to start skating soon. That could make veteran Johan Hedberg or youngster Ondrej Pavelec expendable.

One Flyers source said general manager Paul Holmgren has spoken with Atlanta G.M. Don Waddell in the past about Pavelec, but not recently. Pavelec 22, is a second round pick of the Thrashers (2005, No. 41 overall) out of the Czech Republic and has played in 19 games this season with Atlanta, amassing an 8-7-3 record with a 3.03 GAA and a .914 save percentage along with a couple of shutouts.

Now the Thrashers WILL presumably have 3 NHL goaltenders at some point this season. But given Lehtonen's injury history, it would be premature to deal away a net minder and call up MacIntyre or Mannino before the Christmas trade freeze kicks in. Perhaps if the Flyers were to offer a 1st rounder for next year (strong draft) but the Flyers gave up two 1st rounders already in the Pronger deal so they don't that available for a trade.

Whenever Lehtonen does return to full health, I suspect it will be Kari not Pavelec who will be available for a trade. Kari has worn out the organization. They have waited for him to step up and become the star goaltender he was projected to become. He certainly has the talent but the determination is not there often enough. He swings between an elite and very ordinary from one game to the next. Elite goalies are prepared to play 60 games a year and they are outstanding most of those nights.

Furthermore, Lehtonen has not endeared himself to his teammates with his behavior. One example is the irritation he shows when a puck is tipped or screened in front of him. You don't see Hedberg or Pavelec throw little tantrums after a goal--even if it is the fault of the skaters. It is a team game and some nights the offense bails out the defense and vice versa.

Now Lehtonen has NHL All-Star talent, he just hasn't played like one in a Thrashers uniform. Sadly, he will probably play better after a trade--some guys have to be shook up a little to get them them to concentrate on their career and reach their full potential. The problem for the Thrashers is that they are unlikely to get great value for him after all the injuries and inconsistency over the years.

The one trade I could see happening is a move involving Hedberg. He's playing the best hockey of his career and has great numbers. Now if the Flyers were to offer a good young prospect, perhaps it would make sense for Atlanta to do that. But after receiving good goaltending most of the season management will probably be reluctant to mess with success. Also the offer would have to be pretty enticing--why weaken your own team and strength a rival in your conference?

Is goaltender Mike Smith being shopped?

John Fontana — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 19:47:36 -0000

More photos » by Chris O'Meara - AP

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Lightning fans have got to be wondering just why Mike Smith is getting a load of starts as of late, with flashes of brilliance intertwined with inconsistencies and soft goals. With six starts in the past nine games, Smith has faced the most regular action since his concussion this time last year.

Both wins during that span were under Smith's watch, posting a shutout against the Isles and a near-shutout against the Rangers on November 28th. But for every great start, there have been follow up weak efforts by the team - no matter who is in net.

Two media publications in the Philadelphia area shed light on why Smith has seen so much action as of late: Brian Lawton may have been showcasing him for a potential trade.

According to the Delco Times (which is in Delaware County, PA for the uninformed -- such as myself who originally posted this as Delaware the state. Thanks to Travis Hughes from Broad Street Hockey for the correction.):

According to another organizational source, the Tampa Bay Lightning, ready to hand their starting job to Antero Niittymaki, contacted the Flyers to gauge their interest in goalie Mike Smith.

This report was repeated by Philly.com and invokes memories of Charles M. "Chuck" LaMar (former GM of the Tampa Bay ~~Devil~~ Rays) in what was the supposed reason talks did not go very far:

"However, the Lightning’s demands for the average-at-best netminder was absurd, as they asked for either Claude Giroux or James van Riemsdyk in return, to which the Flyers told them to peddle their wares elsewhere."

Asking too much in return for someone middle-of-the-road or inconsistent was a mainstay of LaMar's trade negotiating tactics as GM for the Rays.

If the Lightning are indeed shopping Mike Smith, there's a bigger picture one has to realize beyond Antero Niittymaki becoming the #1 starter and remainder of the the 2009-10 season. It happens to do with AHL tandem Riku Helenius and Dustin Tokarski, and it happens to do with Lightning-alumni-abroad Karri Ramo who is currently in the KHL.

All three goaltenders are Lightning property and will remain Lightning property beyond the 2009-10 season unless moved. Antero Niittymaki is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, having signed for substantially less with the Bolts ($600,000) in order to prove his worth. The Bolts re-signing him long-term at a much greater cost, with steady netminding in the system, is questionable.

The system update I posted here at Raw Charge earlier this week shows that Ramo, Tokarski, Helenius and prospect Jaroslav Janus all have middling records with their teams, yet their personal save percentages and goals against averages have been sound, if not impressive. For the Lightning to look at moving Mike Smith is to suggest the team is confident in their young crop of netminders.

If the team cannot move Mike Smith, his contract lasts for one more season at $2.4 million dollars in salary. He becomes an unrestricted free agent in July of 2011.

Alpine Lightning: Bolts at Colorado Avalanche preview (UPDATED)

John Fontana — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 17:19:27 -0000

WHERE: Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado
WHEN: 9 PM EST
MEDIA: Sun Sports (cable), 620 WDAE (Radio)

The big failure of the recent six of nine games at home was the lack of points picked up in the standings by the Lightning. Nine games, five points picked up in the standings. 2-1-4.

That is not going to cut it if the Lightning are serious about making the playoffs this season.

In fact the Bolts have been lucky. The Florida Panthers are still behind them in the standings, but the Kitties are within striking distance of passing the Bolts... Well, if they stop taking out their own players... Still, it's the Bolts who are guilty of under-performing in most (if not all) areas of their game, and it will come back to haunt them unless things change.

Tonight's the second match-up between the Lightning and the Colorado Avalanche this season, and within the past two weeks at that. You might recall the Bolts being goose-egged by the Avs in Tampa at the end of November. The Avs are in the midst of a lengthy home stand, playing seven of eight at home. They opened that series up on Tuesday with a shutout loss to the Wild. They'll be looking to get back into the swing of things tonight.

From DDC at Mile High Hockey:

Meanwhile, the Avalanche are expected to get Craig Anderson back from a neck injury suffered in Florida. Anderson hasn't finished a game since...November 30th against the Lightning. Peter Budaj has been better-than-solid in Anderson's place (1.26 GAA, .956 Sv%), but that doesn't mean the Avalanche won't get a morale boost from the return of Anderson.

The Avalanche are converting 18.9% of their power play opportunities at current, that's good for 18th in the league. The Lightning, in contrast, are converting 18.3% of power play opportunities -- that puts them at 23rd in the NHL. Now factor in the potential that Ryan Malone (4 PP goals this season) and Steven Stamkos (7 PP goals) will be out tonight (as of this writing, this had not yet been determined) and the Bolts are likely at a bigger disadvantage with a man advantage. PP 18, 80.7 PK -15

And on the penalty kill? Colorado has an 80.7 kill-rate, good for 18th in the league. Tampa Bay? 77.5 (26th in the league), along with the second-lowest kill-rate on the road (71.4). Playing that weak a man-down means the Bolts need to be extra vigilant against taking stupid penalties. Members fo the Lightning blue-line have been the usual suspects for being penalizd, but RW Steve Downie has been guilty of playing more reckless as of late - and with his reputation, this only leads to refs all-too-willing to send Downie to the sin bin.

We'll post the starting lineup for the Lightning later in the day. If the trend over the past 9 games holds, the Lightning will likely start Mike Smith in net...

[Note by John Fontana, 12/11/09 3:03 PM EST ] We've got a general guess on the lines tonight. Matt Smaby will be in (his second game this season) as well as Kurtis Foster on defense. Antero Niittymaki will between teh pipes for the Lightning and it LOOKS like Ryan Malone will play. Lukas Krajicek will not play because of his status with the team.

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Edmonton - Tampa Bay post-game: Zorg, meet Gordie

Bruce McCurdy — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 06:20:53 -0000

More photos » by Chris O'Meara - AP

Edmonton Oilers right winger Zack Stortini, foreground, celebrates with the bench after completing his "Gordie Howe Hat Trick" by scoring the game-winning goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning during an NHL hockey game Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2009, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

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Well I know that we're all supposed to be pulling for losses and losing streaks so we can nab that all-important Bingo ball, but tonight the Oilers went and won again and that's four in a row now so when will these guys buy in to the game plan? Granted they haven't been beating up the class of the league but there's this old axiom that you can only beat the team you're playing, and to do that four times in a row on any road trip is cause for hope. Oilers were hanging on in the third tonight but had just enough in the tank and between the pipes to get the job done. 3-2 again, this time in regulation, over Tampa.

The "fourth" line of Zack Stortini centring Robert Nilsson and Ryan Stone has been together for four games now and Oilers have won all of them. The trio is +5/-0 in that time, with Nilsson also chipping in a couple of powerplay points while Stone and Stortini have looked after the physical side of the game including three fights tonight. Nilsson looks far more effective playing with grunts than smurfs so I hope Coach Quinn doesn't promote him too quickly. It's working, leave it alone.

The man of the hour tonight was one Zack Stortini, who made a gigantic impact on this game in just 6:22 ice time. "Zorg" hit for the Gordie Howe Hat Trick Plus with an assist, a goal, and two** fights against Zenon Konopka. The goal was the game winner, set up on an effective doubleteam forecheck, a nifty kick pass by Stone, and Stortini taking it to the net, walking in front of the goal line and finding the far corner beyond Mike Smith to put the Oil in front to stay, 3-2.

(**The second fight was pretty lame.)

Stone is the closest thing the Oilers have had to Glencross since Glencross, and the presence of an effective LW on the fourth line has made all the difference. He played another solid game tonight in just 6:07 ice time, and while the goals can't continue at this rate the hitting and the good positioning and the effective puck movement appear to be ingrained. He also proved pretty handy with the dukes when he took on Tampa hooligan Steve Downie and got the better of him, especially in the scrap's late stages after Downie attempted to slewfoot Stone.

The other good news is that after his disaster in Vancouver Jeff Deslauriers has bounced back with four solid efforts in a row, holding opponents to 2 or fewer each time. Tonight was a big step forward in my view, as he looked more composed and commanding than I've seen previously, tracking the puck well and handling it almost competently (which is a Huge improvement). He backed that up with 15 saves in the third including a huge stop on Downie in the final minute to hold that 3-2 lead to the end.

On the other side of the puck Marty St. Louis is just a wonderful hockey player who is a joy to watch.

Selected stats after the jump:

EV Corsi by line (listed in order of EV TOI)
-------------------------------------------------------
Horcoff -8, Jacques -9, O'Sullivan -12
Penner +1, Brule -1, Gagner -2
Cogliano +2, Potulny +2, Moreau -2
Nilsson +4, Stone +3, Stortini +2

Visnovsky -9, Smid -11
Souray +3, Gilbert +3
Staios -2, Strudwick -4

That first unit drew the lion's share of the assignment against Lecavalier (+12) and St.Louis (+15), which explains their results to a significant degree.

Faceoffs
-----------
Penner 5/10 = 50%
Potulny 5/11 = 45%
Gagner 5/12 = 42%
O'Sullivan 2/5 = 40%
Horcoff 4/15 = 27%
Stortini 0/6 = 0%
Cogliano 0/1 = 0%

Team 21/60 = 35% = Brutal

Horcoff 22:12
Jacques 5 hits
Staios 4 blocks
Stortini 1-1-2, +2, 12 PiM, 3 hits
Gilbert 1-0-1, +2, 4 shots, 1 hit
Deslauriers 32/34, .941, W

* * *

Lecavalier 22:51, 0-1-1, +2, 4 shots, 2 hits, 20/29 = 69%
St. Louis 23:22, 1-1-2m +2, 7 shots, 2 hits

* * *

Next up: @ St. Louis, Friday, 18:00 MST

Tampa Bay Lightning Game 29: versus the Washington Capitals

Cassie McClellan — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 14:00:52 -0000

by Chris O'Meara - AP

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The Tampa Bay Lightning lost to the Washington Capitals 3-0.

This game was a lot closer than the score suggests - at least for the first two periods. Vincent Lecavalier was by far the best player on the ice for the Lightning. Mike Smith and Ryan Malone came in tied at a close second. They had some jump and were taking it to the Caps. Things were looking promising for a solid finish in the third.

And then they came out flat and lifeless. It was like an entirely different team that played the third period. The Caps were up by three goals at that point - and, to their credit, they didn't allow any goals after that - so the game was still potentially winnable. The Lightning have come back from worse than a three-goal deficit to at least make it to overtime. But something happened during the second period intermission to take the wind out of their sails, and I can't even begin to guess what that might be.

The coaches themselves threw in the towel with seven minutes left in the game by benching their top two lines. No matter how poorly they might be playing, you don't bench your top lines if you think you might have a chance to get back into the game. So it was obvious that the coaches decided that the game was essentially over at that point. Not exactly much of a confidence booster right there.

Bad penalties were a story of the game. The Caps have a great power play, and to give them the opportunities to use it was sloppy thinking. Luckily, they only converted on one of the five opportunities that the Lightning provided for them. Still, having your top guys in the box when you need them on the ice isn't a good way to try to win a game.

Jeff Halpern and Paul Szczechura had an outstanding night in the faceoff circle. Halpern was 6-1 (86%) and Szczechura was 8-2 (80%). They helped pick up the poor faceoff night for Steven Stamkos, who was 4-7 (36%) and Lecavalier, who was 6-10 (38%). That's been pretty typical of Stamkos's faceoff performance lately, tho that has not been so typical of Lecavalier who's usually wins around 50-55% on average.

No matter what the Lightning did, they were unable to solve Semyon Varlamov. He was the true difference maker in this game. Had the Lightning not come up against such a hot goaltender, the final score might've been far different.

The next game is Wednesday, 9 December, versus the Edmonton Oilers. Start time is 7:30 pm Eastern.

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