OK, this is where everyone who thinks I’ve given John Grahame a hard time over the course of hte year gets to post comments and tell me off…
.948 Save Percentage in January , a plethora of shutout minutes in a row and all that… Grahame is, I have to admit it, on fire…
And tonight continued the trend.
The Lightning were facing the Capitals — who had played the previous night, beating up on the Maple Leafs — with Brent Johnson in net instead of Olaf Kolzig who had started the previous night…
It took 11 seconds to tell the difference.
Ruslan Fedotenko opened up scoring 11 seconds into the game and the lightning amassed 39 shots total as they drubbed the Caps 5-0. It’s Grahame’s 3rd shutout in 4 games (29 saves - including several heavy barrages of shots) and the team’s 7th win since January 17th in LA (7-1-1, 15 points). This game comes a week after a very disappointing loss to this very caps team in Washington and with Bolts absent of one of it’s top players.
Brad Richards scored back to back special team goals — a short-handed shot where he took all day to shoot on an out of position Johnson, and then during a five on three power play near the end of the second — while Ryan Craig was a plus three on the night with his own goal…
Loading ...
2 Comments until now
Grahame looked confident tonite, which is a change from earlier in the season. Something’s happened to John…maybe he’s just hot now, or maybe he’s grown into the role of de facto starter. Dunno.
I will say that was one of the best home games I’ve seen all year. Big, loud, chanting crowd, fights, crisp play on O and D…fun.
I told you at the beginning of the season he just needed time. It’s down right scary to be a starter after being a backup for so many years. As soon as he became comfortable between the pipes he became the goalie I always felt he could be. I gave him time to adjust and now I can sit back and enjoy watching his performance! Way to go JG! Good Luck in Turin!