SB Nation - Matt Walker

Stopping on Long Island on a snowy evening: Lightning vs. Islanders preview [UPDATED]

John Fontana — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 18:27:02 -0000

More photos » by Jeff Roberson - AP

WHERE: Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, New York
WHEN: 7 PM EST
MEDIA: Sun Sports, 620 WDAE

Lets start with the enws of the weekend that we did not report here on Raw Charge but it none-the-less happened. No, no, not what the title suggests, but the fact Lukas Krajicek was sent to AHL Norfolk. The new rub is, the Lightning have no intention of calling Krajicek back up to expose him to re-entry waivers (and letting other teams pick him up at half-price).

Coming off the victory versus St. Louis on Friday night, the Lightning are in need of somethign that has eluded the team since early November and only twice this season: back-to-back wins. Indeed, the last time the Lightning won back-to-back games was November 7th/12th (Montreal and Minnesota). Before that it had been October a full month (October 10th/12th versus Carolina and Florida).

So there is qa burden on the Lightning's shoulders tonight that the team has not beeen able to shake all season long - play a second winning effort and not fall back into the mire. Which team will show up remains to be seen - will they be the blunder-kids of the majority of this road-trip, or will they be the team that shut out this very Islanders team two weeks ago?

Indeed, last time these two teams danced, the Bolts shut out the Isles 4-0 at Times Palace. Mike Smith was in net for that one... As he will be tonight for this one. Smith is 5-9-5 on the season with a 3.14 GAA and .897 Save percentage. Both are well below his career average. We found out the Lightning had been showcasing Smith, playing him more often so scouts could see him, and offered him to Philadelphia earlier this month. Smith's inconsistency for the BOlts still reminds me far too much of former Lightning goaltender John Grahame -- aggressive to a fault, and liable to give up questionable or soft goals all too often.

The Isles are suffering on special teams at this point -- with a 16.6% power play conversion rate, a 75.4% penalty kill ratio. Due to snow conditions, the Isles did not practice yesterday.

This is one fo the rare games where the Lightning should have an outright chance when you look at the stat comparisons. Not only do they hold advantages on special teams (79% penalty kill rate, 17.3 power play conversion rate), but goals-for (2.46 vs. 2.42 for the Isles), goals against (2.89 goals allowed per game compared to 3.11 for the Isles) and faceoff percentage (51.7 versus 48.1).

Whcih Lightning team show sup tonight, though? The team humiliated in Chicago? Pushed around in Detroit? Or the winners in St. Louis?

The Bolts head home for the holidays after this one -- spending Christmas and New Years at Times Palace.

[Note by John Fontana, 12/21/09 6:00 PM EST ] It would appear that Zenon Konopka ill be scratched tonight -- a "body maintenance" scratch. Meanwhile, defenseman Matt Walker will also be out -- he suffered an injury in the 1st period of Friday's win over St. Louis. Steve Downie is set to return.

Tampa Bay Lightning Projected Lines

(updated December 21, 2009 by RawCharge subject to change)

Forward Lines:

Ryan Malone -Steven Stamkos - Martin St. Louis
Alex Tanguay - Vincent Lecavalier - Jeff Halpern
Blair Jones - Paul Szczechura - James Wright
Todd Fedoruk - Stephane Veilleux - Steve Downie

Defense:

Mattias Ohlund | Andrej Meszaros
David Hale | Victor Hedman
Kurtis Foster | Matt Smaby

Goalies

Mike Smith (starter)
Antero Niittymaki

Other Previews

Tampa Bay Lightning official team preview

Lighthouse Hockey

TSN

Full game coverage on SB Nation

Friday links: T.J. Oshie superstar edition

averagejoe — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 11:00:21 -0000

Friday!

Blue news

Blues vs. Tampa tonight. Can St. Louis beat the Lightning? Let's hope so. [CBS Sports]
I hate question mark headlines, but this one does raise a point. When do the struggling vets get the Matt Walker tour of arena press boxes? [St. Louis Post-Dispatch]
T.J. Oshie claims he doesn't think he's a star. Good, because he isn't. A star has more than 20 career goals. [Belleville News-Democrat]
One thing learned in this Jeremy Rutherford chat: he expects a trade before Murray gets the boot. [STLtoday]

Hockey news

Last night's results. [Yahoo! Sports]
Blues and five others are playing tonight. [Yahoo! Sports]
Canada is unhappy about not getting a Winter Classic yet. At least this guy is. [Toronto Sun]
A look at the 10-worst deals of the aughts. Shockingly, no Chris Pronger for Eric Brewer, Doug Lynch and Jeff Woywitka. [Puck Daddy]
Henrik Zetterberg suffered an upper-body injury last night. [ESPN]
Luke Schenn (sophomore slump) and Jonas Gustavsson (heart) are expected back for the Leafs on Friday. [TSN]

David Kock and Jarkko Ruutu received fines. [TSN]

Other links

This is extremely complicated, but cool nonetheless: The beerodic table. [Pic]
More year-end countdown stuff: The top 15 local news stories of the year. [Buzzfeed]
I've never written on a stall wall, but I've often thought about it. As a lefty, I'm usually pretty close to the wall and as a journo, I always have a pen in my pocket. Anyway, these people aren't like me and write on walls. [OMG Staff Wall]
I don't have many rules, but if you submit to this Web site, we can't be friends. [Rate My Pecs]

Video

Look, the video well has dried up. After doing this for like 10ish months, I'm about tapped out. So today, you're getting Muppets.

Lisa Simpson: Dad, what's a Muppet?

Homer Simpson: Well, it's not quite a mop, and it's not quite a puppet, but maaaan! (laughs) So to answer your question, I don't know.

Poor College Student has the weekend shift. I'll be in Kansas City helping a friend move. Go BLUES!

Tampa Bay Lightning Game 19: at the Anaheim Ducks

Cassie McClellan — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:15:12 -0000

More photos » by Jae C. Hong - AP

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The Tampa Bay Lightning lost to the Anaheim Ducks in overtime 4-3.

I didn’t stay up to watch this game, so I can’t give you the particulars, but I will sum up the stats.

The goal scorers for the Lightning were Jeff Halpern, Martin St. Louis, and Steven Stamkos. Ryan Malone and Steve Downie each had two assists, while Vincent Lecavalier, Victor Hedman each had one.

The Lightning were again outshot, this time it was 27-24. So not by much, but still outshot all the same. Lecavalier had four shots on goal, while Halpern, St. Louis, and Andrej Meszaros each had three.

Penalties were apparently a big problem. Not having watched the game, I can’t tell you how fairly they were called. I can tell you, tho, that the majority of the penalties were called on defensemen. Of the seven minor penalties that were called, five were called on the defense. That’s been a recurring theme for Tampa Bay this season.

Faceoffs were much better. Lecavalier led the team, winning 12-8 (60%), and Stamkos was a lot better winning half of his draws (7-7; 50%). The team overall won 55% for the game.

As I’ve mentioned before, the Western Conference tends to be more physical than the Eastern Conference. And this game seemed to have fallen into that pattern. The Lightning were out-hit 27-17 by the Ducks. Malone had four hits, while Lecavalier, Lukas Krajicek, and Paul Szczechura each had two.

And the final lone stat of the night was that Matt Walker had four blocked shots.

Looking at the box score, the best players for the Lightning appeared to be Halpern, Lecavalier, and Meszaros.

The Lightning’s next game is Saturday, 21 November, at the Carolina Hurricanes. It’s a 7 pm ET start – hooray!

Game Recaps:

Tampa Bay 3, Anaheim 4 OT [Tampa Bay Lightning Official Site]

Niedermayer's OT goal lifts Ducks over Lightning [NHL.com]

Tampa Bay Lightning loses to Anaheim Ducks 4-3 in OT [St. Petersburg Times]

Bolts fall to Ducks in overtime, 4-3 [Tampa Tribune]

Bolts seek to further boost home record versus Kings (preview)

John Fontana — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 17:03:07 -0000

More photos » by John Dunn - AP

Former Hart Trophy winner Martin St. Louis takes his 11 game goal-scoring drought into tonight's matchup with the LA Kings (AP Photo/John Dunn -- April 4, 2009)

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WHERE: St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa, Florida
WHEN: 7:30 PM EST
MEDIA: Sun Sports (Cable), 620 WDAE (radio)

After Thursday night's dramatic, come-from-behind, did-they-deserve-that(?) victory over the Minnesota Wild, the Bolts seek to extend their winning ways at home (5-0-3 at Times Palace this season) against the Los Angeles Kings.

That, and Martin St. Louis looks to end his 11 game goal-scoring drought. After notching two goals on opening night in Atlanta and a tally versus the Panthers nine days later, St. Louis has zero goals and nine assists over the next 11 games.

The Kings are playing the second of a back-to-back set and will be out to redeem themselves after being outright slaughtered 7-0 in Atlanta last night. The Kings (like the Lightning, Thrashers, New York Islanders and Colorado Avalanche) have rebounded spectacularly in general after a poor 2008-09 campaign that netted them a top draft pick. Of course it's early in the NHl season still but 24 points in 20 games is not too shabby.

The Kings have a 21.9 power play percentage (12th) and a 74.0 penalty kill percentage (29th)... Of course the Bolts are struggling in both categories, converting on only 18.1% of power play opportunities (19th) and killing off 76.8% of penalties (26th). The Lightnign are also allowing 32 shots on goal nightly while taking 27.7 shots on average. The Kings, on the other hand, are taking 28 shots on goal and allowing a meager 26.

The King salso boast the league points leader in cnter Anze Kopitar. Kopitar has 30 points in 20 games (14 goals -- tied for the league lead, 16 assists) and Ryan Smyth is second on the team with 22 points (9 goals, 13 assists). those stats alone should give pause to anyone thinking the Bolts have it easy trying to stop the Kings for the second night in a row.

After tonight, Tampa Bay opens a four game road trip before heading back to Tampa for Thanksgiving.

Other Previews:

Official Tampa Bay Lightning game preview

TSN.ca

Find more Kings coverage at Battle of California

[Note by John Fontana, 11/14/09 2:32 PM EST ] The Lightning report, via their official Twitter feed, that Matt Walker will be a game-time decision and if he cannot play, Kurtis Foster will start in his place.

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.

About Vincent Lecavalier's scoring drought....

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

More photos » by Steve Nesius - AP

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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.

Senators, Michalek make their points in 7-1 win over Lightning

PeterR — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 03:18:36 -0000

More photos » by Sean Kilpatrick - AP

The Ottawa Senators crowd around Alex Kovalev after he scored the opening goal in Ottawa's 7-1 romp over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Oct. 15, 2009.

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That's more like it. The Ottawa Senators pretty much dominated the Tampa Bay Lightning in every aspect of the game, and it showed in the final score of 7-1. Leading the way was Milan Michalek, with two short-handed goals and a powerplay marker for his first-ever NHL hat trick, while Jarkko Ruutu had a goal and two helpers, Daniel Alfredsson had three assists and Chris Kelly, and Anton Volchenkov each had two assists.

Although Ottawa carried the play in most areas, nowhere was it more evident than when the Senators were short-handed. Obviously, two short-handed goals were telling, and the Senators held Tampa to five shots on six powerplay opportunities (including over a minute of 5-on-3 time) while getting seven shots of their own. The end result was a resounding statement of confidence when down a man.

The Senators impressed throughout the lineup, as well. All four lines put up points on the scoresheet (Alex Kovalev, Michalek, Nick Foligno, and Ruutu), and eleven different players had at least one point. Even without the puck, to a man the whole team made a physical statement from Jason Spezza and Volchenkov both catching rookie Victor Hedman with big hits, Matt Carkner annihilating Steve Downie in a third-period fight, or Chris Campoli credited with three hits on the night.

It wasn't a busy night for Pascal Leclaire--he only faced 17 shots on the night, none of the particularly difficult variety--but he was solid. He certainly looked better than Lightning counterpart Mike Smith, who started well but let in a few bad goals as the game went on and the Senators kept coming.

(Read more... )

There were some pretty set-ups on the night. Particularly impressive was when Alfredsson forced a turnover at the Lightning's blue line to set Kovalev up for the opening goal just minutes into the game, and his alley-oop pass too Michalek over the head of Martin St. Louis. Better than those, however, was probably Spezza's through-the-legs, no-look, cross-crease pass to Michalek for his third of the night and the Sens' second PP marker of the season. After some serious struggles to score in the first five games, it was great to see that offensive creativity come out in spades tonight.

Although Ottawa had one powerplay goal, they were still only 1-for-6, and only had five shots with the man advantage. It's still the most pressing area of concern for the Senators. The most pressing area for Sens' fans is offering up their hats for a home team hat trick. You can get them back, folks, just go to customer service! I resolve to throw my hat down next time I'm at a home game and a player turns the trick.

Talking about toughness, the Senators made a statement with three fights from three different individuals, each faring well in their respective battles. Chris Neil dropped them with Matt Walker, Chris Phillips took on Zenon Konopka, and, as said earlier, Carkner welcomed Downie to the Big Country in true Carktastic fashion. I make it no secret that I dislike Downie, but I have a feeling players around the league--and I'm certain former Senator Dean McAmmond--liked to see that kind of statement made.

Although Spezza had just the one assist, he had a strong game tonight. He was backchecking, forechecking, and truly looks like a he's become the well-rounded first-line centre this team has long been looking for. It certainly looks like Michalek is bringing out the best in Spezza, and although Jonathan Cheechoo will have a hard time keeping up with those two, he had a good game tonight (five shots on net, Michalek had nine) and looked like he fit in.

Another star on the night was Ruutu, to be sure. His pass to Michalek was a nice look, he dished the puck to Alex Picard for that defender's first goal of the season (against his former team, to boot), and the goal he scored was just a good follow-up adhering to what's got to be one of Cory Clouston's mantras: Drive to the net. Shean Donovan (who played to a quiet +1 tonight) lead the way in that, and now his fourth-line comrades are following suit.

Rookie Erik Karlsson made a statement tonight, just by playing solid defence. Made a tough pinch that led to the 2-on-1 that brought about Ryan Malone's goal, but he did some good, too: Had an assist, three shots on net, a couple of hits, and played pretty solid in his own end. It won't be the best game of his season, but it might be his most solid game so far.

Guess who led the Senators in ice time tonight. Alright, time's up: It was Alex Picard, with 24:24 played. Only
Picard and Chris Campoli (20:15) played more than 20 minutes. Now that's a balanced lineup.

It was an all-around statement game for the Senators: They won the game on both sides of the puck, and just plain outplayed their opposition. It's another win over another non-playoff team (at least from last season), though, so the Senators still have plenty to prove in games against more proven competition.

And here's your fight card (saved the best for last):

Neil versus Walker:

Phillips versus Konopka:

Carkner versus Downie:

Game Preview: Carolina Hurricanes at the Tampa Bay Lightning

Cassie McClellan — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 18:30:22 -0000

More photos » by Gerry Broome - AP

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WHERE: St. Petersburg Time Forum, Tampa, Florida
WHEN: 7:30 PM EDT
MEDIA: Sun Sports TV (Cable), 620 WDAE (Radio)

The Tampa Bay Lightning have a record of 0-1-2 going into this match, while the Southeast Division Carolina Hurricanes are 2-2-0.

The Lightning started out slowly in their last game with the New Jersey Devils, but managed to pick it up for the second and third period. A freak goal with one second left in the game tied it up for the Devils, sending the game into overtime - and then on to a shootout. The Lightning's shootout problems continue, and while they were able to pick up the point, they were unable to walk away with a win.

Kurtis Foster is still out, and now David Hale is out with the flu. Lukas Krajicek will be in the lineup to fill out the defense tandems. Otherwise, the lineup remains the same as the previous game with Stephane Veilleux staying on the top line with Vincent Lecavalier and Alex Tanguay.

Niittymaki will get his first start of the season.

Tampa Bay Lightning Projected Lines

(updated October 10, 2009, by Raw Charge and is subject to change)

FORWARDS:

DEFENSE:

Mattias Ohlund | Victor Hedman
Paul Ranger | Matt Walker
Lukas Krajicek | Andrej Meszaros

GOALTENDERS:

Antero Niittymaki (Starter) | Mike Smith

Related previews from other sites:

Tampa Bay Lightning [Official team site]

Erik Erlendsson, Bolts Report [Tampa Tribune ]

Damian Cristodero, Lightning Strikes [St. Petersburg Times]

NHL.com

Yahoo! Sports

Check out the latest on tonight's opponent, the Carolina Hurricanes, at Canes Country.

Game Preview: New Jersey Devils at the Tampa Bay Lightning

Cassie McClellan — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 17:37:19 -0000

WHERE: St. Petersburg Time Forum, Tampa, Florida
WHEN: 7:30 PM EDT
MEDIA: Sun Sports TV (Cable), 620 WDAE (Radio)

The Tampa Bay Lightning go into this game with a 0-1 -1 record, while the New Jersey Devils are 0-2-0 to start the season.

In the previous game vs. Carolina http://www.rawcharge.com/2009/10/7/1074553/tampa-bay-lightning-game-2-at-the, the Lightning had great energy and were very aggressive. Expect to see some more of that tonight. Opening night festivities will heighten that, so the problem shouldn't be coming out flat but coming out too excited. Hopefully, that won't translate into making too many mistakes.

Kurtis Foster is still out, but at this time he is expected to make his return to the lineup on Saturday against the Carolina Hurricanes at home. Still no word on why Mattias Ohlund left the last game, but he is expected to play tonight as well. Matt Smaby was sent down to the Norfolk Admirals on a two-week conditioning assignment, so he is not with the team at this time. With Smaby's temporary departure, the team has only 22 players currently on the roster: 12 forwards, eight defensemen, and two goaltenders.

Veilleux was moved up to the top line with Vincent Lecavalier and Alex Tanguay against Carolina, and he's expected to start there tonight as well. As the second and third lines are set as they are, the only place for Steve Downie is the fourth line. Victor Hedman will now be playing with Ohlund, Hale with Meszaros, and the tandem of Ranger and Walker will stay the same.

Smith should be the starter.

Tampa Bay Lightning Projected Lines

(updated October 8, 2009, by Raw Charge and is subject to change)

FORWARDS:

DEFENSE:

Mattias Ohlund | Victor Hedman
Paul Ranger | Matt Walker
David Hale | Andrej Meszaros

GOALTENDERS:

Mike Smith (Starter)
Antero Niittymaki

Related previews from other sites:

Tampa Bay Lighting [Official team site]

Erik Erlendsson, Bolts Report [Tampa Tribune ]

Damian Cristodero, Lightning Strikes [St. Petersburg Times]

NHL.com

Yahoo! Sports

Check out the latest on tonight's opponent, the New Jersey Devils, at In Lou We Trust.