SB Nation - Vincent Lecavalier

Lightning 4, Islanders 2: For Tavares & friends, it's a slump

Dominik — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 02:55:42 -0000

Good news: Hey, the Islanders powerplay actually produced a goal! Bad news: The penalty kill gave up two. The Islanders played well 5-on-5, with Dwayne Roloson and his post bailing them out two critical times in the first period. But their special teams let them down again. In addition to the Lightning's two PP goals, their third goal was scored before the Isles could regroup after killing off one at the end of the 2nd period.

The Isles were booed off the ice at the end, and with results like these that's no surprise.

Final - 12.21.2009	1	2	3	Total
Tampa Bay Lightning	0	2	2	4
New York Islanders	1	1	0	2

Complete Coverage >

When I said before the game that if the Lightning play up to their talent level, it's their game to lose, that's what I meant. Both on the powerplay goals and in their fantastic 5-on-5 in the first period, Steven Stamkos, Martin St. Louis and Vincent Lecavalier moved the puck -- with Ryan Malone twice doing the trenchwork finishing -- at a level the Islanders cannot match. Despite the Isles outshooting the Bolts 38-28, that talent spelled the difference.

We can probably call this John Tavares' first official slump at the NHL level. It's now five games without a point and six without a goal -- his longest of the season in both categories. Tonight he only got one shot on goal, plus two more that were blocked. His line looked far less dangerous than the Frans Nielsen line, something reflected in the balance of shots directed at the net on their shifts.

Still -- and not that he will reach the same heights expected of Stamkos -- but looking at Stamkos tonight and all season long tells you what a difference a year can make for a 19-year-old in the NHL.

[Bit more plus Roloson's crazy goal-line saves video after the jump.]

I would say it could be time to reunite the Moulson/Tavares/Okposo line to get them going, but Okposo with Bailey and Nielsen actually had some nice chemistry tonight. Their best shift created the Islanders' second goal which, ironically, was scored by Nate Thompson (?!) because those forwards had kept the puck in the Lightning end long enough to live through a line change.

Rob Scrhemp continues to work hard, but without much result. It's not that he's creating things that his linemates aren't converting -- he's just not creating much danger at 5-on-5, period. And of course, he's part of a powerplay unit that isn't posing much of a threat now either.

Roloson, Acrobat

But for now, enjoy Roloson's insane acrobatics on the goal line, which kept this a game for much longer than it otherwise would have been:

And for the rest of the game highlights, including some nifty goals by both sides (NATE THOMPSON?!), we'll add them later, but whenever they're posted you can find them here.

This road is getting rough, and not looking any easier in the days ahead.

Tampa Bay Lightning Game 35: at the St. Louis Blues

Cassie McClellan — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 19:00:26 -0000

by Jeff Roberson - AP

3 days ago: Tampa Bay Lightning's Jeff Halpern, left, is congratulated by teammate Martin St. Louis after scoring during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the St. Louis Blues, Friday, Dec. 18, 2009, in St. Louis. The Lightning won 6-3. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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he Tampa Bay Lightning beat the St. Louis Blues 6-3.

They broke a six-game losing streak. Their last win was against the New York Islanders on 5 December at home. It was also their first win of this six-game road trip.

Vincent Lecavalier's two assists gave him 700 career points. He was also the catalyst of this game. Lecavalier's chippy play is what energized the team and got them going in the right direction. The turning point in the game for the Lightning was Vinny's retaliatory elbow penalty at the end of the first period.

Jeff Halpern was playing with a full cage over his face due to taking a puck to his face the night before against the game in Detroit. He was worked on in the locker room by an oral surgeon after that game, and was still on the ice for an optional morning skate in St. Louis. Seeing his black cage reminded me of when I used to play hockey - though my cage was white.

Halpern scored two goals in the game, as did Steven Stamkos. Martin St. Louis had a goal and two assists. Malone and Tanguay also had two assists each.

Twice the Lightning scored within a minute after the Blues scored. Typically, coaches will tell you to be careful of the shift after you score, but rarely does it happen that the other team scores immediately after your team does. Well, twice it happened for the Lightning to maintain their two-goal lead for most of the night.

Yesterday was rookie Victor Hedman's 19^th birthday. After the game, he was greated with a shaving cream pie. It was nice of the team, however, to give him the nice birthday gift of winning the game.

The next game is at the New York Islanders on Monday, 21 December. Starting time is 7 pm Eastern. Let's hope Hedman scores another goal on John Tavares's team.

Lightning vs Blues coverage [SB Nation]

St. Louis Game Time [SB Nation St. Louis Blues site]

Lightning vs Blues recap [TSN]

Lightning vs Blues boxscore [TSN]

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.

Other Previews

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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]

Nashville Predators steamroll Tampa Bay 7-4

Dirk Hoag — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 03:40:12 -0000

More photos » by Mark Humphrey - AP

6 days ago: Nashville Predators center Jerred Smithson, top, celebrates with David Legwand (11) after Smithson scored against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first period of an NHL hockey game on Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2009 in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

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The Nashville Predators put on their biggest offensive display this season, rolling over the Tampa Bay Lightning 7-4 after falling behind in the first period. Seven different Predators scored, and all but four skaters got at least one point on the evening as the Preds pushed their way into 5th position in the Western Conference.

Tonight marked the third time in the last 10 games that Nashville has won by a three-goal margin, after not doing so at all in the first 24.

Follow after the jump for the recap...

Please be patient, it may take a while for video to become available.

Nashville's shutdown line, tasked with defending the line of St. Louis, Stamkos and Malone, instead provided the opening goal for the Preds; Joel Ward put the initial shot on net, David Legwand carried the rebound around behind the net for a wrap-around attempt, and Jerred Smithson ended up stuffing home the loose puck for a 1-0 lead.

While the Predators carried most of the early play, Steve Stamkos got loose through center ice at top speed a few minutes later, and was able to carry the puck wide on Shea Weber, ultimately slipping the puck through Pekka Rinne's 5-hole to tie the game 1-1.

From there, the penalty bug bit the Preds again, as in recent games against Detroit and Columbus. First, Smithson retaliated with a cross-check on that landed him in the box, and while that penalty was still being killed off, Ryan Suter clipped Vincent Lecavalier with an unintentional high-stick. Nashville survived the 5-on-3 but just as it expired, a slapshot from Lecavalier made it 2-1 Tampa Bay.

Early in the second, the shutdown line came through again for Nashville, with Legwand stuffing home a rebound of Ward's initial shot just 1:25 in. Just a couple minutes later, Nick Spaling recorded his 1st career NHL point, as he earned an assist for carrying the puck with speed into the Tampa zone, putting Niittymaki down to the ice with a backhand attempt, leaving a loose puck for Ryan Jones to stuff home. Jones has now scored in three consecutive games.

Patric Hornqvist then scored to push the lead to 4-2, taking a loose puck off a faceoff and firing a quick wrister from between the circles, a goal which chased Niittymaki from the game. Mike Smith came on in relief, but lasted just 28 seconds before J.P. Dumont tipped a Hornqvist shot past him to make it 5-2. Fans in the arena didn't even have time to chant "We Want Frosties" before the key 5th goal was scored.

From there, things just got steadily worse for the Lightning; a fight broke out behind the play between Shea Weber and Steve Downie, with Weber getting the best of the scrap by far. Dan Hamhuis added a long goal to make it 6-2, and another fight between Kevin Klein and Stephane Veilleux failed to generate any momentum for Tampa Bay.

By the end of two periods, the Preds had scored 6 goals for only the second time all season, on only 16 shots!

Smithson got into his own scrap to start the 3rd period, taking a roughing minor in addition to fighting with Ryan Malone, who had been roughing him up along the boards. On the ensuing power play, Kurtis Foster scored on a long slapshot to make it 6-3. The Lightning then crept even closer with 7:40 left in the 3rd, as Lecavalier converted on a breakaway chance for his second goal of the night, making the score 6-4. Fans began to sense trouble, as a blowout appeared to take on a new competitive angle.

Martin Erat got back on the scoresheet to make it 7-4 with 6:13 left, though, extending a remarkable night where the Preds scored a ton of goals, but no player got more than two points or four shots; this was a whole-team effort.

Pekka Rinne turned aside 30 of 34 Lightning shots, a decent night but not particularly outstanding. In the post-game press conference, Trotz offered up that he thought Pekka was a little too active on a couple of the Tampa Bay goals, when a little patience would have served him better.

Given the number of fights in the game, it was somewhat surprising to see Wade Belak skate only two shifts in the third period. Trotz noted, however, that the Lightning came out in the 3rd with good speed and tried to push the pace. They were determined to try and make a game of it, and for a few minutes, came uncomfortably close to doing just that.

NHL Boxscore

Check back tomorrow morning for the advanced stats from tonight's game.

Poll

Who is your Predator of the Game?

Marcel Goc, 2 assists

8 votes

Patric Hornqvist, goal & assist

41 votes

David Legwand, goal & assist

22 votes

Jerred Smithson, goal & fight

17 votes

Joel Ward, 2 assists

4 votes

92 votes | Poll has closed

Lightning take road show to Nashville; Bolts vs. Predators game preview

John Fontana — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 19:59:34 -0000

More photos » by Elise Amendola - AP

Jeff Halpern will be scratched tonight by the Tampa Bay Lightning. Start your speculation as to WHY now. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

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WHERE: Sommet Center, Nashville, Tennessee
WHEN: 8 PM EST
MEDIA: 620 WDAE (radio)

The memo that this is all the players fault continues to play out before our eyes with some of the moves that have taken place before tonight's game in Nashville. There was the vote-of-confidence in the players yesterday by Lightning general manager Brian Lawton... There was the call up of Blair Jones today as we noted in a fan shot...

Now, once again, there has been a major shake up... This time it doesn't involve Vincent Lecavalier though. Jeff Halper and Alex Tanguay have both been scratched for tonight's matchup, and the 4th line will be made up of two defensemen. Yes, the Bolts are dressing eight D-men tonight.

But the news playing out from Erik Erlendsson of the Tampa Tribune via Twitter:

According to Rick Tocchet, Halpern's scratch is not based on his play, rather something between player and coach, he didn't elaborate

It's Halpern's first healthy scratch in quite a while and Jeff also did not elaborate or comment further on the scratch.

I really think Dirk Hoag at on the Forecheck summarizes this game perfectly in why Nashville comes out victorious tonight (and why the Lightning are floundering, and why people are looking at coaching as a problem):

The Lightning have a decent amount of talent, but right now are a team in disarray, and this is when the structure that Barry Trotz is most famous for should pay dividends. With a disciplined, hard-fought effort, the Preds need to jump on this team early and get them down.

Talent but disarray, bested from a disciplined, hard fought effort. For all the hoopla about dogging the puck, grinding it out, and showing toughness - the Bolts and discipline have not known each other this season. This is a far more broader issue than change-the-chemistry, keep-the-style that some believe will be the salvation for the Lightning. It's a sign of bad wiring.

The Nashville Predators are at the bottom of the league when it comes to special teams -- a 16.5% success rate on power plays and a 26th ranked Penalty Kill unit (78.2 %). Of course, the Lightning aren't too much better in either area. Nashville is also peppering opposing goaltenders with 31 shots a night on average. That means the Lightning defense cannot fall down, go boom again and leave netminder Antero Niittymaki out to dry as they have all too often this season.

Of course, don't let the special team standings fool you: Nashville is 6th in the Western Conference (and the West in whole is showing absolute dominance over the East this season ) and 5-3-2 in their last ten. If Chicago saw Sunday's matchup as a game that could re-invigorate the offense, Nashville should see this as a game that should be improving their special teams.

Lines for Nashville:

Forwards

Sullivan - Arnott - Erat

Ward - Legwand - Smithson

Jones - Goc - Dumont

Hornqvist - Scatchard - Spaling

Defense

Suter - Weber

Bouillon - Klein

Hamhuis - Sulzer

Goaltender:

Pekka Rinne

Other Previews

Tampa Bay Lightning official team preview

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Tampa Bay Lightning Game 32: at the Chicago Blackhawks

Cassie McClellan — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 14:00:30 -0000

More photos » by John Smierciak - AP

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The Tampa Bay Lightning lost to the Chicago Blackhawks 4-0.

Despite the score, it wasn’t a bad game by the Lightning. And when I say "bad", I mean "awful". They did some good things, but weren’t lucky enough to convert anything.

Of course, they were out-shot – 29-18 in this instance. And the overall team faceoff winning percentage wasn’t that great at 44%. But they did get some scoring chances early on. And their penalty killing looked very good, especially with the two back-to-back five-on-threes that they had to kill off.

But the power play was ineffective, they took far too many undisciplined penalties, and the defense could play well everywhere but right in front of Antero Niittymaki.

And then there’s the lack of scoring.

The players were making the effort to score, however. Kurtis Foster had five shots, Martin St. Louis and Stephane Veilleux each had three shots, and Steven Stamkos with his bum wrist had two shots on goal. On the scorer’s sheet, the official tally for Vincent Lecavalier was only one shot on goal, but that doesn’t count the three attempted but blocked shots he had, and the two missed shots he took as well.

The problem with scoring is that they’re a perimeter team. The only player willing to consistently put himself in front of the net is Ryan Malone – which is why he has so many goals this season. No one else is willing to take the abuse required to camp out in front of the other team’s goalie. Everyone else is more than happy to stay to the outside and take those long shots that most goalies see coming from a mile away.

The problem with the defense is that the defensemen are jumping into plays and leaving the back end exposed to breakaways, while the forwards are playing too deep. No one’s setting up plays – they all just dive in and hope for the best. You can’t have that. You have to have some kind of on-ice structure spelled out and executed. Guys have got to play their positions at all times, not try to force scoring and therefore giving up their defensive positioning. Scoring is just half of the game.

The next game is at the Nashville Predators on Tuesday, 15 December, at 8 pm Eastern.

Lightning vs Blackhawks coverage [SB Nation]

Second City Hockey [SB Nation Chicago Blackhawk's site]

Lightning vs Blackhawks recap [TSN]

Lightning vs Blackhawks boxscore [TSN]

Poll

Should head coach Rick Tocchet be considered on the hot seat?

Yes

68 votes

No

43 votes

Don't know.

7 votes

118 votes | Poll has closed

Tampa Bay Lightning Game 31: at the Colorado Avalanche

Cassie McClellan — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 19:17:10 -0000

The Tampa Bay Lightning lost to the Colorado Avalanche 2-1 in a shootout.

I've made no secret of the fact that I grew up on the West Coast. Colorado was one of my favorite teams, so it'll probably come as no surprise that I've seen quite a few Avalanche games on TV. And I have to say that, of all of the games that I've seen played in Colorado, this Lightning team was the most affected by the elevation change that I have ever seen.

It comes down to poor ice time management. Part of that were the coaches, but part of that were also the players. They were taking regular length shifts for much of the game, and you can't do that in Denver - and that was a coaching issue. Icing the puck without thinking and not clearing their own zone - that was the player issue. And it cost them the game because they were too tired by the third to really keep the lead.

This was a very winnable game for the Lightning. They were playing fairly well, few penalties were being called, and they were getting some great offensive chances. Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis, and Steve Downie played great together. In fact, they scored the only goal for the Lightning: Downie got the goal and Lecavalier and St. Louis the assists.

Despite not having played for three games, Antero Niittymaki looked very fresh and very on. The goal that he allowed by the Avs was more of a defensive breakdown than anything else. Which, again, came back to poor ice-time management - when you're tired you're not thinking as clearly as you perhaps should be. Even still, Niittymaki kept the team in the game, even in the third when Colorado had 18 shots for the period.

And why were Steven Stamkos and Ryan Malone even in this game? They'd both left the previous game with injuries and were listed as day-to-day. What would it have hurt had they sat this game out? Especially Stamkos, whose injury was bad enough to warrant a trip to the x-ray machine.

Give them some time to heal before you put them back into the line of fire - even if they say they're okay. You can't trust an athlete to give you an honest answer if you ask them if they're okay after going down. I should know; I've been there. They all lie so they can play. All. Of. Them. Even if they can't walk, they'll tell you that they're alright. Seriously.

Overall, it was the altitude that did them in. Which I found interesting, especially considering that Rick Tocchet was an assistant coach in Colorado for a while. You would think that he would have been more careful because of that. As you would've thought that Alex Tanguay - a long-time member of the Avalanche - would've warned his teammates. And maybe they did, but circumstances got the better of them. It's hard to say.

The next game is Sunday, 13 December, at the Chicago Blackhawks. Game time is 7 pm Eastern.

Lightning vs Avalanche coverage [SB Nation]

Mile High Hockey [SB Nation Colorado Avalanche site]

Lightning vs Avalanche recap [TSN]

Lightning vs Avalanche boxscore [TSN]

Team Canada Watch: Centre

Chemmy — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 18:20:26 -0000

Maybe the deepest position for Team Canada, what five cent(re/er)s do you take to Vancouver this year? Invitees include guys like Vincent Lecavalier and Eric Staal who haven't impressed this season but ignore players like Steven Stamkos (30pts in 30GP).

In my mind there are two stone cold locks to play Center on Team Canada: Joe Thornton and Sidney Crosby. That leaves us two full time spots and an alternate.

So who are the big candidates left?

Ryan Getzlaf

#15 / Center / Anaheim Ducks

Height: 6-4

Weight: 221

Born: May 10, 1985

	G	A	P	+/-	PIM
2009 - Ryan Getzlaf	6	30	36	4	29

3rd in scoring amongst Canadian NHL centers, Getzlaf also has the benefit of playing with Corey Perry. Bringing along good winger-center combos should increase Canada's chances of scoring more than ten goals a game which is why I'm going to leave Patrick Marleau off this list. Capable of playing both center and wing he's feasted on the power play with Heatley and Thornton. I'd bring all three because they're comfortable with each other.

Brad Richards

#91 / Center / Dallas Stars

Height: 6-0

Weight: 192

Born: May 02, 1980

	G	A	P	+/-	PIM
2009 - Brad Richards	9	26	35	1	2

I haven't heard anything about Brad Richards this year but he's playing dominant hockey right now. A slick passer without an Olympian winger, I think B. Richards should be able to be plugged in with almost anybody (Iginla?) and make it work.

Mike Richards

#18 / Center / Philadelphia Flyers

Height: 5-11

Weight: 195

Born: Feb 11, 1985

	G	A	P	+/-	PIM
2009 - Mike Richards	13	12	25	5	38

Despite claims he was having a bad season, Mike Richards' numbers look solid to me. M. Richards' is a good two way player and comes bundled with Jeff Carter (also a Center I'd move to wing) which gives Canada an amazing penalty killing duo up front. Philly leads the league in shorthanded goals perenially for a reason.

Steven Stamkos

#91 / Center / Tampa Bay Lightning

Height: 6-1

Weight: 196

Born: Feb 07, 1990

	G	A	P	+/-	PIM
2009 - Steven Stamkos	17	13	30	-2	16

Stamkos wasn't invited to camp. Huge numbers though; sixth in the NHL in goals, 4th in power play goals. Probably gets left home this year but if he keeps developing he'll be a lock to play in Sochi barring an NHL ban.

Paul Stastny

#26 / Center / Colorado Avalanche

Height: 6-0

Weight: 205

Born: Dec 27, 1985

	G	A	P	+/-	PIM
2009 - Paul Stastny	8	24	32	6	20

Paul Stastny wasn't invited to Team Canada's camp either, but along with Stamkos represents a much stronger candidate than either Eric Staal or Vincent Lecavalier. Stastny's performance this year has helped Colorado get past the loss of Burnaby Joe and is a large reason Avalanche fans forgot the word "rebuild" in a hurry. Edit: Stastny was born in Quebec and is listed as a Canadian by NHL.com, but apparently plays for Team USA in the Olympics. Good for Kessel I suppose. I'll make it up to you with two more options:

Marc Savard

#91 / Center / Boston Bruins

Height: 5-10

Weight: 191

Born: Jul 17, 1977

	G	A	P	+/-	PIM
2009 - Marc Savard	8	6	14	1	8

No invite for Savard, he's firing on all cylinders after missing a bunch of time to start the year. It seems Hockey Canada isn't enamored with Savard and his injuries this year make him even more of a long shot.

Patrice Bergeron

#37 / Center / Boston Bruins

Height: 6-2

Weight: 194

Born: Jul 24, 1985

	G	A	P	+/-	PIM
2009 - Patrice Bergeron	8	16	24	2	10

Now that his fragile head hasn't been smashed in years Patrice Bergeron is quietly putting up some solid numbers.

So which five guys do I bring? Thornton, Crosby, M. Richards, Getzlaf and B. Richards is my fill in guy. How about you, who are you bringing and why?

Tampa Bay Lightning Game 30: versus the Edmonton Oilers

Cassie McClellan — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 14:00:22 -0000

More photos » by Chris O'Meara - AP

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The Tampa Bay Lightning lost to the Edmonton Oilers 3-2.

On a night where the team lost its two top goal scorers, Ryan Malone and Steven Stamkos (both with unknown injuries at the time of publishing), for who knows how long, the Tampa Bay Lightning found something perhaps even more important: their pride.

Tocchet finally put Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis back together – and not just for the power play. On their first shift, Vinny set up Marty with a beautiful pass, and Marty put it home to put the Lightning up 1-0. The only questions that remain are these – why didn’t they get put together far sooner than December, and how long will they play together for? Tocchet likes mixing up lines constantly and is not apparently a patient man. So I wouldn’t expect them to stay together if they go a couple of games without a goal between them.

It was one of the better nights for both players. They were both flying. I think that psychological boost they got from it boosted up the rest of the team as well. When your leaders are happy and playing well, then the rest of the team tends to play well.

Vinny had an outrageous faceoff winning percentage for the game, too. He won 20-9, which is a 69% winning percentage. Zenon Konopka’s winning percentage was better – he won 4-1 (80%) – but he didn’t take anywhere near the number of faceoffs that Vinny did. As a side note, Stamkos has not done very well in the faceoff circle for the past couple of weeks.

Victor Hedman scored his second goal in three games, which is fantastic for a defenseman. He’s been joining the rush more – while not putting the team in jeopardy defensively – and putting in shots. He’s still having some problems with turnovers in the neutral zone, but he’s playing pretty well otherwise. Last season with Modo in the SEL, he scored seven goals in 43 games, so he’s capable of becoming more of an offensive defenseman. I’m not sure he’ll ever become a Mike Green or a Dan Boyle, however. He did have five shots on goal for the game, however.

The second period was sloppy and not played very well. Had the Lightning played the second like they’d played the other two periods of this game, they probably would’ve won it. But they let Edmonton back in with a couple of goals in the second period.

So even if they did lose their top two goal scorers, they found their top players were playing well - together.

Next game is Friday, 11 December, at the Colorado Avalanche. Game time is 9 pm Eastern.

The Copper & Blue [SB Nation Edmonton Oilers site]

Oilers vs Lightning coverage [SB Nation]

Oilers vs Lightning recap [TSN]

Oilers vs Lightning boxscore [TSN]

SB Nation - Vincent Lecavalier

Lightning 4, Islanders 2: For Tavares & friends, it's a slump

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Tampa Bay Lightning Game 35: at the St. Louis Blues

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

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Other Previews

Tampa Bay Lightning Game 33: at the Nashville Predators

Highlights from NHL.tv

Nashville Predators steamroll Tampa Bay 7-4

Who is your Predator of the Game?

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David Legwand, goal & assist

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Lightning take road show to Nashville; Bolts vs. Predators game preview

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Defense:

Tampa Bay Lightning Game 32: at the Chicago Blackhawks

Should head coach Rick Tocchet be considered on the hot seat?

Yes

No

Don't know.

Tampa Bay Lightning Game 31: at the Colorado Avalanche

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Brad Richards

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Tampa Bay Lightning Game 30: versus the Edmonton Oilers