Give credit to the Breakaway Beach for the following rundown of tonights game:

Toronto (at TB)

• 3rd game in 4 days
• Played last night at FLA (4-2 W)
• 12-12-0 after a win
• 8-2-0 with 0 days off
• PP is 7/33 (21.2%) in last 5 games, 20.4% for season
• PK is 27/33 (81.8%) in last 5 games, 80.7% for season
• 2nd game of 3 game road trip
• 10-13-2 on road this season
• 1-1-0 vs TB this season, 1-2-1 last season
• 2-1-0 in second of back to back games when playing 3rd game in 4 nights
• Outshot in 31 of 51 (60.7%) of games this season
• Outshot in 18 of 25 (72%) of road games this season (8-9-1 when outshot on road)
• McCabe expected to return tonight
• 1-7-1 without McCabe

Tampa Bay (vs TOR)

• 3rd game in 4 days
• Last played Sunday at WAS (1-2 L)
• 9-10-1 after a loss
• 9-12-0 with 1 day off
• PP is 5/29 (17.2%) in last 5 games, 14% for season
• PK is 18/18 (100%) in last 5 games, 24/24 in last 8 games, 83.7% for season
• First game home after 2 game road trip (1-1-0)
• 1-5-1 when home after a road trip of 2+ games
• 5-6-1 in first game back home (all)
• 20-11-3 when outshooting opponent, 7-8-1 when outshot

Sydor Fuzzy After Puck Drills Him

Former Lightning GM Rick Dudley, a special adviser with the Blackhawks, attended Saturday’s game in Philadelphia and Sunday’s in Washington. Chicago is reportedly shopping former Lightning D Jassen Cullimore.

I missed this one in the Tribune today (hat tip to Spectors Hockey guru Lyle Richardson for posting on Spectors). Cullimore being brought back tot he Lightning would be a very interesteing situation and a qustionable move in certain lights. Some believe Cullimore’s skating and the new NHL do not mix.

Also, it’s a big quesiton just what the ‘Hawks would want in return for Cullimore’s services? Draft picks? Ryan Craig? Paul Ranger? Or possibly even former first round pick Mike Egener and more?

Well, Bolts fans, if you thought the Lightning had a shot at catching Carolina in standings, todays move could put a serious damper on that…

See comments on the Multimedia post…

The Run hits a roadbump….

I’ve added 3 new clips to the Multimedia section of Boltsmag…

For starters — The Sarich / Kostopolous fight, with special thanks to David of HockeyFights.

The others? Vaclav Prospal’s season-opening goal versus Carolina as well as Ruslan Fedotenko’s overtime GWG from earlier this week.

I’ve also uploaded other multimedia highlights the last few days but those will be added int eh Multimedia listing at a later point.

Seems Vinny Lecavalier injured his foot during play late in today’s blowout versus Philadelphia… The injury appears to be serious… Of course, the only report I can find is on RDS so take it with a grain of salt…. But the word “fracture” is in there.

I’ll try to find a link to verify the Jaspers / O’Brien call up… O’Brien would definately be needed in light of Daryl Sydor’s injury today and the fact the team could not determine the extent of the injury (non concussion).

Disregard said post.

On the day the Pirates invaded downtown Tampa, a few hundred miles to the north, the Tampa Bay Lightning invaded Philadelphia and pillaged the injury riddled Flyers…

Sean Burke registered the Lightning’s 2nd consecutive shutout and Freddie Modin scored a hat trick as the Lightning continue their streak — now 5-0-1 in the last 6 with 11 points — with a new found passion in play.

One can easily point to the fact the Lightning faced Roberto Luongo and Martin Brodeur on consecutive games and Antero Niitymaki landed himself in a pile of do-do having to face a frustrated Lightning offense that had produced 83 shots over the span of those two games and only scored 3 goals total. In this instance the Lightning piled on 30 shots — converting on six. Three of which were on the power play.

Martin St. Louis had 2 assists, Pavel Kubina notched 3 and rookie Ryan Craig had a goal and an assist.

All in all, it was a pillaging fo the Flyers in this matinee matchup…. The Lightning nw stand at 58 points…

Evgeny Artyukhin was the reason the Lightning opened scoring, driving hard at Antero. Niitymakii made the initial save but with a crowd around the net and Antero out of position, Dan Boyle (rumored replacement defensiveman for Team Canada at the Turin Olympics) capitalized on the loose puck… This kid is just as Balls-to-the-wall as Freddie Modin has been in his tenure witht he Lightning, if not more so.

Daryl Sydor went down with an injury however – and I admit ignorance in knowing what the injury was as the WMOR broadcast of the game absolutely reeked.

The Run continues…

The NBC Broadcast of the Tampa Bay Lightning versus the Philadelphia Flyers is not going to air on the local Tampa Bay NBC affiliate. WFLA – Channel 8 – will be broadcasting the Gasparilla invasion parade (for the 55th consecutive year).

The game will be televised in teh Tampa Bay market on WMOR TV 32.

The Olympics poll will coe back in a few days… I’m running an off topic poll (non-hockey) and asking who will be the Super Bowl Champions this year?

Just a parody of “One” by U2 to summarize last night’s win over the New Jersey Devils.

Mike Chen writes that the Lightning ought to take a chance on waived Flames goaltender Phil Sauve:

Now, I haven’t seen much of Sauve this season so I really don’t know much about him besides his reputation. But if I’m Tampa GM Jay Feaster, I’m picking the kid up right away just because of his potential upside. Let’s face it, even if John Grahame stays solid for the rest of the season, it won’t be hard for a hotshot rookie to push him out of the starting position.

Myy thought is that Feaster will pass — mostly because he respects Sutter and knows that if Daryl had problems with Phil, Tortorella may very well have problems as well. Is it a risk worth takign by the team? Yes… Especially with how bad the Lightning’s goalie situation has been this year — with no offense intended to Grahame and Sean Burke after their recent performances. It’s Feaster’s obligation to look for a long term answer between the pipes…

EDIT: Speaking of Sauve, David Singer at The Ice Block wonders about several factors surrounding the Sauve/David Aebischer incident… Like did it merrit an Instigator penalty?

Dallas Stars Blog:: COACH NOTES

John Tortorella (TB)…During a media scrum the topic turned to the NBA player who wouldn’t go back into a game in which his team was being blown out. The intense Tortorella was asked what would happen if he switched places with an NBA coach. His reply, “I’d end up in jail”

Recapping last nights game is something painful and yet something almost inspiring because you watched artwork… Hell, it was dueling artwork. Rembrandt vs. Picasso, winner take 2 points home.

Of course, with artwork it comes down to who you enjoy looking at more – not effort put forth by the artist. Yet, it’s almost the same in last night’s hockey game at Times Palace.

The Lightning’s 500th home game ever (there 1000th game was played in Los Angeles during the recent road trip) was artwork in the effort put out by the Lightning… 50 shots on goal, two miraculous goals… One great effort… But if effort is worth discussing, no one’s effort on either team amounts to or can compare to that of Roberto Luongo for the Florida Panthers.

For years, the Lightning (during their competative-yet-mediocre early years) were stymied by Panthers netminder John Vanbiesbrouck… And for years now, Roberto Luongo has taken up the task of replacing (and erasing the memory of) Beezer in Miami. This guy is worth the price of admission alone – watching him make save after save and keeping you on the edge of your seat, wondering just whether or not your team can a puck past this indominable and omnipotent force that stands between the pipes.

There was speculation on the Lightning message board that I haunt about what it would take for the Lightning to acquire Luongo… Arguments formed that it would take Vincent Lecavalier to start with… And my thought is, after last night is this: Bye Vinny. Hello Roberto.

Hockey starts and ends with goaltending, this should be a no brainer for Lightning fans who have seen two different netminders help lead the Lightning to the playoffs. Darren Puppa was between the pipes for a mediocre-but-formidable Lightning team in the mid 1990’s and was a force all in himself until his back gave out. Everyone should easily recall what Nikolai Khabibulin was able to do between the pipes for the Lightning from the start to the end of his tenure with the team…

Roberto’s better than both those netminders… Possibly combined.

Vincent Lecavalier puts up 9 shots on Luongo and can’t score. Dan Boyle? 6. Martin St. Louis? 4. Ruslan Fedotenko? 4. Brad Richards took 3 and got a lucky break on #4… Leading to the Bolts first goal of the game to tie it late in the 3rd.

It reminds me of a line from A Few Good Men as JoAnn Galloway speaks of her respect for Marines:

Because they stand upon a wall and say, “Nothing’s going to hurt you tonight, not on my watch.”

That’s Luongo… That’s why I respect him and why I think of him as worth the cost of a Lecavalier or Richards or another elite player on the Lightning…

One point goes to the Lightning and the Run continues in part…

Took a little longer than expected but Craig Ramsey is back behind the bench tonight…

Brett Hull call’s it quits…

Dave ANdreychuk was waived…

And now, Super Mario Lemieux is calling it a career…

The Lightning were very concerned with Tim Taylor’s injury… So concerned that they called up Jason Jaspers in response.

Well, folks… Jaspers is gone… Does this mean the medical threat is less than it once was? Or perchance Martin Cibak is well again as well?

I’m trying to think up the proper Dodgeball: A true underdog story reference for this one but Iit escapes me…

Tampa’s city government announced on their web page that Adult Kickball Leagues are now forming…

“World Baseball classic” is actually the “Heritage Baseball Classic” — I mean how else can you explain American citizens, born, raised and what not in the United States, playing for other countries. I mean, Mike Piazza on team Italy? Mike’s from Pennsylvania! Not from Cicly!

OK, so it’s actually the Heritage Baseball Classic. It also happens to be anothe rform of Spring Training to the players. Does anyone REALLY expect these games to be interesting or competative? No one wants to give there all, no one wants to be hurt for the regular season and not many are actually so proud of there heritage that they will be overly competative in order to win the WBC/HBC’s crown.

It’s a joke… ANd I feel sorry Baseball fans will be forced to hear it’s tellign this spring.

As you may have already noticed, there is a new poll up asking who’s the favorite for the Gold in the WInter Olympiad in Turin, Italy. Cast your vote now.

The road trip is over and the Lightning move one point ahead of the Thrashers int eh standings, regaining 2nd place in the southeast division with a 2-0 blanking of the Atlanta team.

There are a few stories to the game that can be told — gritty efforts with back to back games, Tim Taylor overcoming injury to play tonight, John Grahame blanking Atlanta for the 2nd time this season and Kari Lehtonen playing a stupendous game, stopping 22 of 24 shots.

The difference maker was the power play – which had been abyssmal for how long? Brad Richards had a shot on the power play bounce off several players legs for a score in the first (the goal was credited to Fredrik Modin.) Vincent Lecavalier backhanded a shot past Lehtonen during a 3rd period power play to put the Bolts up by a deuce.

Grahame’s difference in this game was stopping the shots he had to – something that John has failed to do several times this season, earning the wrath of John Tortorella as well as this fellow John. It was the kidn of effort that helped propel the Lightning during late November.

And while there has been much bile tossed the way of Dmitry Afanasenkov, you had to love how he, Evgeny Artyuhkin and Ryan Craig clicked together while out on ice together tonight.

The Bolts stand 2 points up on the Maple Leafs, one point in front of the Thrashers and a deuce behind the New Jersey Devils who won today… It’s an impossibly long climb if the team wants to re-claim the southeast division lead. … Better seeding and better games ahead are all they can hope for now.

…Is it just me or is John Grahame even in disbelief he stopped some of these shots? His acting after some shots give me the idea he thought Atlanta scored….

Who were these players on ice tonight and what did they do with the Tampa Bya Lightning?

Uncharacteristically, the Lightning jumped out to a 3-1 lead over the Dallas Stars tonight with only 11 minutes of play having taken place. It was 4-1 just moments after that as well. 4 goals on 9 shots – very different than anything you would expect to see form teh Lightning or from Marty Turco for that matter.

It wasn’t just the lack of shots on goal, it wasn’t just the goals ammassed, it was the war on teh boards that he Lightning were winning and the swagger of it all as well.

Yes, I said it — swagger.

Hell, even the maligned Dmitry Afanasenkov got into the scoring — of course, it was an empty net goal, but I could have sworn I saw him receiving a pat on the head from John Tortorella a few minutes before that goal (OK, him or Dan Boyle – I couldn’t tell for certain).

The win gets the Lightning back into the playoff race, being tied with Toronto at 51 points, 1 behind the Atlanta Thrashers and 2 behind the New Jersey Devils…

And wouldn’t you know, the next stop on the Lightning’s joyride just happens to be Atlanta, GA. Any energy left from tonights matchup has got to be stored in a special place until game time tomorrow.

6-3 the final form Dallas… The Lightning have struck, and I’m wondering if a new stormfront has errupted int eh SOutheast division.

And you thought MY continuity with Blogging has been bad?

No offense intended towards Todd Wright, the Tampa Bay Lightning’s officially blogger, or the Lightning franchise itself (or the NHL for that matter) but a blog is not a semi-annual column. Todd’s last post was before Christmas. Not that it’s a weak post (purely fantasy speculation of 2004 Lightning vs. 1996 Panthers) but the content shoudl be more routine. Little things with the team, with the franchise and with the sport being mentioned instead of elaborate posts are a plus…

‘Course, who am I to say what Todd should do? When was the last time you saw a full course article on Boltsmag?

It would seem Bryan Berard — the league’s posterboy for face shields along with overcoming adversity – has tested positive for a banned substance.

The real black-eye tot eh NHL on this disvovery comes from the fact the US Anti Doping Agency was the oen who discovered Berard’s positive test. The league only had it’s first substance abuse tests on Sunday…

In the meantime, Berard has been banned form IIHF and Olympic play.

I don’t usually point to Tampa Tribune articles – though I’ve found Erik Erlendsson has had better contnet than Tom Jones at the St. Pete Times. That being said, sometimes I miss gem articles that show up in the Trib…

Case in point, Scott Carter uses John Tortorella’s goalie outburst from December 28th to ask the question — which positions in pro sports really have it the toughest?

Kevin Weekes is quoted to lead in teh comparison of high pressure positions in pro sports:

“Pitchers, quarterbacks and goaltenders have enormous responsibility that we put on our own shoulders,” Weekes told reporters afterward. “We want to be there for everybody, we want to be the eraser and make things right.

“Giving up a walk-off home run at Yankee Stadium, throwing an interception at a critical time, giving up a bad goal … there’s a commonality to all three. You never want to give up a goal like I did there. I take it seriously. It’s a bitter pill to swallow that I’ll take with me for a while.”

As the article states, this is coming off Weekes giving up a softy to SImon Gagne that ultimately led to a loss by the Rags. I’ll never accuse Kevin of being someone who can’t face the music – he’s one of the best teammates you can have in teh NHL.

But at any rate, the list that Carter amasses is up for debate. I’m only going to show positions that Carter ranked and not his justifications for the sake of not plagerizing the man’s work:

1. NFL quarterback
2. NHL goaltender
3. MLB closer
4. NBA point guard
5. NFL place-kicker
6. MLB starting pitcher
7. Soccer goalkeeper
8. NFL offensive lineman
9. MLB shortstop
10. NHL captain

There’s a lot that can be argued here… And reading the justifications that Carter provides may be necessary in order to comprehend the rankings… But still, I fully agree with 1-3… Can’t support 4 due to ignorance, and have trouble with 6 knowing how Starting Pitching is becoming a short-inning assignment…