The Lightning went into last night’s matchup with what seemed a morale low. Freddie Modin, the balls-to-the-wall Swede was out. Danny “Go shove it, Mike Keenan!” Boyle was to miss his second game. Add Pavel Kubina to the Injury trio and there was doubt going into this game. Lots more than seems to be played by the Friday Morning Puck Antics from the Tribune and Times.

You could even see it was a shaky start to things as well — I commented during the game there was a good deal of dumping-in by the Lightning and sound shots on goal didn’t seem to be happening. There was more action in the neutral zone and the Lightning’s own end to start this game off.

But this game was about overcoming adversity. Overcoming the nipping-at-the-heels Atlanta Thrashers and overcoming doubt. If there was any particular item that cemented this, it was Dmitry Afanasenkov.

Forget defense for a second and the weak power plays, Afanasenkov has had an up and down season this year that remained mostly down. He’s played mostly a grinder role and has failed during his brief stints on the top lines. Last night he was lined up with Brad Richards and Ruslan Fedotenko and found the magic that I had expected of him for two years. The player nicknamed by his detractors as “Cantgetashotov” scored twice.

Paul Ranger netted his first career goal which ultimately became the game winner (after the Lightning allowed 3 unanswered goals in the 3rd) and the Bolts ultimately kept pace with the Habs and Devils by beating the Thrash.

One last question for readership: Where is Vincent Lecavalier and why has his game suddenly changed?

Playoff tickets start going on sale at 10AM tomorrow morning at Times Palace…

Stay Tuned.

The floor is yours.

UPDATE: 4-3 Bolts win! The thread remains open so please feel free to comment. I’ll have the post game summary later on.

Just in case you browse the internet with your Cell phone or happen to check up on the Lightning through Boltsmag, we now have a WAP friendly version of the site. Cell phone users need only apply (meaning the link won’t work if you are on a standard internet connection).

Just look at this.

If you thought the Lightning’s defensive injuries were ill timed, the playoff standings are proof just how ill timed those injuries are. Going into tonights game versus Atlanta, we’re tied with Les Habs and the New Jersey Devils in the points race.

The Times reports that Dan Boyle, Pavel Kubina and Freddie Modin will be out tonight amd likely out until this weekend. Meanwhile, Sean Burke is back but may not dress tonight.

If you gotta talk transactions and listen to rumors, you gotta go with Lyle Richardson of Spectors Hockey fame…

In this case, Lyle — while blogging at Fox Sports — goes into detail about Brad Richards future with the Lightning

It’s one of those media generated rumors that refuses to die, the opinion that the Tampa Bay Lightning might be forced by salary constraints to trade talented forward (and the 2004 Conn Smythe and Lady Byng winner) Brad Richards in the off-season.

The notion was first floated back in December, and gained momentum in the days leading up to the March trade deadline. There were even unsubstantiated reports that the Lightning tried to ship Richards to the Chicago Blackhawks for former Bolts goalie Nikolai Khabibulin.

As Wayne Gretzky’s trade from Edmonton to Los Angeles in 1988 proved, it’s always possible that anyone, no matter how talented or apparently valuable to a team, can be traded. Richards is extremely valuable to the Lightning but he’s not untouchable, nor for that matter are any of the Lightning’s top stars.

That being said, I doubt very much the Bolts will move Richards.

:Actually, Lyle misses the first “Richard traded” rumor mongering by a few months. In August, the Montreal Rumor Machine started churning the Richards Rumors out. But I digress.

Lyle goes on to cite the Salary cap increase that is expected in the offseason, which will provide more wiggle room for Richards re-signing. He also states the facts that Richards has been the top scorer on the Lightning 3 times during hsi five year career. You don’t ditch someone like that, especially when they are just entering their prime.

Vincent Lecavalier may be the face of the Tampa Bay Lightning franchise, but Brad Richards is the work ethic that turned the Lightning from jokes into Stanley Cup Champions.

I don’t know what Ted Williams opinion was on baseball in Florida.

I don’t know what Teddy Ballgame thought of Tropicana Field, or what his thoughts would be on the feud between the Rays and his Red Sox…

However, Ted Williams is dead. So is the Citrus County location of his illustrious Hitters Hall of Fame. Effective April 3rd, the Hitters Hall of Fame will be closing entirely in Citrus County and will be taking up residence – in part, and then later in full — at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg.

Citrus County is basically a hell of a ways away from both Orlando and the Tampa Bay region and was cited for dwindling attendance. The new centralized location will be open to the public in general when games are not being played at the Trop.

The Springfield Falcons report that Timo Helbling was recalled by the Lighning today. Timo, as Lightning fans should remember, started the season on the Lightning’s roster but lost his spot to Paul Ranger early on.

This casts an eerie shadow over the team. It’s common place for a team, with nothing to play for, calls up prospects late in the season… With the Lightning in the thick of the playoff hunt and injuries to their top defensivemen, their hand has been forced and warm bodies are a necessity on defense.

It can be argued about Helbling’s promotion however. Timo is a -22 with Springfield this season. He does have 21 points over 60 games but that negative plus/minus looks monstrous right now. The alternative selection for promotion would be Gerard Dicaire, who’s medical condition seriously hurt his chances with the Bolts during training camp. In Dicaire’s 39 games with Springfield, he’s notched 1 goal with 7 assists. He’s also a -4…

The Buccaneers will be playing Dallas in one of the annual Thanksgiving Day classic games (the other is in Detroit) for the first time in team history.

Who wants to lay odds if they’ll have a Kickoff Return for a touchdown by then?

No one hate me for this, but in a way, this was a moral victory.

No Boyle. No Modin. Without Sydor for a period. Without Kubina for 2 periods. The Lightning were playing heavy defense against one of the top teams in the NHL and the difference maker was Mark Recchi’s 5-on-3 Power Play goal in the 2nd.

Though there were several onslaughts on both goaltenders, I thought both Grahame and Gerber (especially Gerber though) went unchallenged tonight…

This is a big loss (considering what I said in an earlier post — the Habs tying New Jersey in the standings) but the implications may be broader if the Lightning are nwo without Kubina for an extended period of time.

2-1 the final in Raleigh. The Bolts will likely recall another body from Springfield and make a demotion as well. Expect Gerard Dicaire to appear on the roster if that is indeed the case.

Don’t know if any of the regulars around here want to comment during the matchup — but the floor is yours.

Boyle’s out, O’Brien’s in. Kubina’s gotta step up and we’re playing Southbeast Champion Carolina tonight in Raleigh… Here’s Casonblog’s take:

Tonight will be a huge test. Tampion Bay is hungry and grinding to get into the playoffs. Gut check night. How do the ‘Canes play coming off a bad loss to the Craps? Like Staal, Justin Williams looks frustrated to me-Ditto Matt Cullen. Will we see Big Joe?

Meanwhile, Acid Queen’s trying to rally the troops.

Meanwhile, it would seem certain fans at Sun Sports TV’s message forum are finally tipping the Hurricanes the respect they deserve for being on top of the NHL. Last time around? They were deemed the “3rd rate tropical storms” from the homer elite at Sun Sports. This time? It’s Carolina. Maybe someone learned something about respect between then and now? Probably not.

The Habs are within 2 points of the Lightning now, this is no game for John Grahame to stumble in. Grahame does have a 4-0 record this season versus Carolina this season… So there is hope…

I’ve taken a good bit of the week off because of Family in town and because I had been helping to run Sticks of Fire while Tommy Duncan was out of town.

So you never saw me give a post-game report on the 4-3 overtime win versus Washington… Costa at Population Statistic does a damn fine writing about his concerns after this win:

After last night’s eked-out 4-3 overtime win over the hapless Capitals, Tampa Bay Lightning coach John Tortorella said his team would be a dangerous playoff opponent.

Dangerous? To whom? The biggest danger the Bolts pose is to themselves, by sliding out of the postseason race. They needed to comeback again and again just to force OT against Washington. In the game before that, they needed to rally from four goals down against Florida — another team they should be plucking an easy two points from (and didn’t, falling to the Panthers 6-5 in overtime). Tampa Bay is one short losing streak away from being bounced.

Now, CT comes off negative telling the stark, realistic truth of the matter in his article… So it may come as no surprise if fans react adversely to his honesty. The Lightning are 2 points ahead of the New Jersey Devils in the Eastern Conference Playoff race and own the tie breaker if the teams ended up even in the points race. That’s not a strong playoff position with the up-and-down game they’ve played this year. 4 points in front of Montreal, 5 games in front of Atlanta. The Lightning cannot falter …

Injuries last night to Dan Boyle and Fredrik Modin do not ease my mind either.

Can I get any more basic with a thread that summarizes the last two victories?

Eric at Off Wing brought up a little falling out that has occurred in Washington with the Real One and Ollie the Goalie. Alex Ovechkin was also benched at one point the other night for not playing both ways and ignoring a call to leave the ice.

Between this and Olaf’s remarks, I consider Alex challenged by the team to play better… And that does not make me feel great going into tonight’s matchup at Times Palace.

Jaspers’ Rink — the best source for articles that the main stream media seems fit to plagerize — has a more in depth look at the Ovechkin backlash and the Calder race.

Meanwhile, the Times has an article propping “The Kid” Gerald Coleman. And though the article talks about him starting in goal at one point or another — don’t expect it tonight. John Grahame is 2-1 with a 1.63 GAA when facing the Caps…

On one hand — I’m bummed we didn’t get 2 points and that was yet another win by the Panthers against the Lightning in OT.

On the Other — good god damn, was that a marvelous comeback!!! The Lightning were down 5-1 to start the third period before scoring 4 unanswered goals! St. Louis (2), Craig, Richards bring the Lightning back from the depths.

On one hand — I’m pissed off on the goalie situation. Grahame — I don’t know how much to fault him on this one. 3rd game in 4 nights, back to back games in this case and he gives up 4 goals on 11 shots in the 2nd period. Who is to blame though? Grahame? Torts for not having faith in the rookie, Gerald Coleman? Jay Feaster for not picking up a goaltender at the deadline (yeah, beating a dead horse here).

On the other hand — you have to admire Coleman for playing as well as he did. He faced several flurries in the 3rd period as well as OT before ultimately giving up his only goal — the one-on-one break away goal to Olli Jokinen. One goal on 13 shots. Better than the Olympian, rookie.

On one hand — we needed two points. The east race is too close to only have 1 and we shouldn’t have bumbled things to give Florida such a wide lead to begin the 3rd.

On the other — good god, man, that was that a marvelous comeback!!! Four goals in 20 minutes? Oh I’m not happy about the loss but damn! I will take 1 point any day after the 1st two periods of this one!

I could go on, back and forth… but coming back in this game against Luongo means a ton. This team deserves a hell of a lot of credit for what they did tonight.

While James Mirtle hosts a round table on the (lack of) Calder race in NHL between Alex Overckhin and Sidney Crosby, I thought I’d encourage a little discussion about Lightning rookies and the impacts they’ve had on the team.

It’s tough to peg a “rookie of the year” with the 3 standout rookies currently on the roster.

Paul Ranger was called up from Springfield on a whim to replace fellow rookie Timo Helbing while the Lightning were lost trying to figure out just where they would find a sixth defensiveman and what happened? He becomes a solid, dependable stay-at-home defensiveman who can chip in on the offense with assists now and again (14 as of this writing). After playing in 62 of the Lightning’s 68 games, it’s impossible to overlook his contribution to the team especially with his /- rating (currently a 6 but as high as 11 earlier in the year)…

Then we come to Ryan Craig who was called up with Darren Reid in December. The former team captain of the Springfield Falcons earned a roster spot with his nightly efforts, and has filled a niche of ugly goals in front of the net which had belonged to former Lightning team captain and NHL legend Dave Andreychuk. In 34 games (through Sunday, March 19th) Craig has 12 goals and nine assists and stands at plus two. He has four points in his last two games, including two goals in Saturday’s victory versus the Philadelphia Flyers (he has 3 total against the Flyers this season as well).

And yet the third rookie on this Lightning team re-introduced the term “tough” into the locker-room lexicon. Evgeny Artyukhin doesn’t just play physical, he re-defines the phrase. The 6′5″, 254 pound Russian right wing has played 58 games with the Bolts, tallying 17 points and is a minus two — but stats don’t show what a force the player affectionately nicknamed “Artoo” is. Artyukhin’s size alone is intimidating and for a good portion of the season — he seemed to be the only player willing to use it. Where Lightning regulars were trying to use stickwork alone on defense and in the corners (in lieu of the new NHL rules and penalty-call’s a-plenty), Artyukhin was a bone crusher instead, throwing mamoth checks and drawing the ire (fear?) of the NHL. Coach John Tortorella at one point thought the league was trying to officiate Artoo out of the league with penalties that Evgeny didn’t deserve (in those 58 games, Artoo has 76 penalty minutes but the stories behind some of those penalties are questionable).

Three distinctive players, three distinctive styles and three players worthy of being dubbed the Lightning’s Rookie of the Year. Who would you pick? Leave a comment or vote in the new on-site poll.

The Lightning were dead in the water earlier this week…

And after this weekend, they’re in 6th place in the Eastern Conference — having beaten one of the East’s big boys and trumped the Sewage-savaged Islanders today in a late-afternoon matinee at Times Palace.

14 games left — and Tampa Bay is home for 9 of them, ladies and gents. Not only that, but the Bolts will not have to travel further north than the Carolinas for their remaining games (how I pitty the Western Conference right now — even in-division games are spread out throughout the continent).

It’s still going to come down to the play of this team around one man, and how well that one man responds. I just hope that someone will tell him that he can’t stop playing well (if he continues to do so) once the playoffs begin.

Dave at the Ice Block takes on Lecavalier mixing it up with Denis Gauthier last night.

So what came of all that? Lecavalier picked up 27 penalty minutes. A fighting major accompanied by an instigator, misconduct and game misconduct. For Gauthier? Nothing.

Following Colin Campbell’s previous rulings, I don’t expect Lecavalier to be suspended. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if Gauthier was. While it wasn’t Hunter-Turgeon (see Hunter’s Wikipedia entry for the reference), it was late and Gauthier doesn’t have the cleanest reputation.

There was more on this throughout the media but I’m skipping it… Torts defends Vinny, Torts stands up for Kubina and is proud of both of these guys for bing willing to step up when challenged physically… Which is something that has been lacking all season long witht he Lightning. If one can recall, there was a little incident in LA in January that put the Lightning back in contention… This team needs to be more willing to acknowledge it’s physical side on ice — it seems to pay off (just in the wrong way in this case if Lecavalier does indeed get a suspension).

For the second season in a row, the Lightning has trumped it’s eastern conference rival for the duration of the NHL season… Completing a 4 game sweep of Philadelphia and keeping itself alive in the face of adversity and playing itself out of contention since the Olympic break.

Of course, the game had it’s moments.

The Lightning dominated on the power play which gave fans in the arena and watching at home memories for the 2004 Eastern Conference Final where the Lightning could do no wrong with the man advantage, scoring 3 power play goals to ultimately win their 8th straight game versus the Flyers.

Peter Forsberg opened scoring… Or should I say Pavel Kubina? Forsberg shot on Grahame rebounded off Kubina’s skate and went right behind Grahame — who continued his knack for committing for far too long on a save. Grahame can also ultimately be blamed for over-aggressiveness which led to Niko Dimitrakos unassisted goal late in the 3rd period .

But I think what stood out was the ridiculousness of penalties tonight. Derian Hatcher was given a five minute major for boarding Brad Richards 59 seconds into the 3rd period. He was also given a game misconduct for chasing Pavel Kubina after officials had settled down a melee after his hit on Richards. The hit was not a five minute major — though a damn good, rough knock on Richards and a penalty all the same.

Of course, that gets trumped by Referee Incompetence later in the period. Vincent Lecavalier scores a rap-around goal on Robert Esche and then ggets drilled by a vicious cross check from Dennis Gauthier after the goal was scored… Vinny retaliates, attacking Gauthier and what happens?

2-5-10-10 assessed to Lecavalier. Instigator, Fighting, Misconduct and Game Misconduct.
Dennis Gauthier gets off without a single minute in penalties.

But I guess the sheer stupidity of the bumbling by goalies and by officials can be overlooked. The Lightning looked good on ice tonight and played well, which I can’t say they have been doing much of lately. Ryan Craig has his first multi-goal game of his career, Brad Richards breaks the 20 goal plateau for the 4th time in his career.

The Bolts are alive, kicking… and have swept the Flyers under the rug for the 2005-06 season.

I know I probably missed the official announcement Jorge Cantu — Tampa Bay Devil Rays second base sensation — was going to blog this season… But I just found his blog on MLBlogs. Quite a happy find indeed with how much I admire the guy.

Cantu is another reason I think the Rays on-field team has a bright future, but he’s also the epitome of what was wrong with the past regime. Not Jorge personally — it was the franchises treatment of him after his rookie season in 2004 that put me off.

It’s easy to forget Roberto Alomar being signed by the Rays last spring before his retirement and being given the 2nd base job by default from manager Lou Pinella and General Manager/Fourth Stooge Chuck LaMar. After Alomar’s retirement during spring training, LaMar would trade pitcher Jorge Sosa to the Atlanta Braves for infielder Nick Green… Sosa would go on to be a wunderkind under pitching-coach-supreme Leo Mazzone while Green would prove to be a good utility man but Cantu’s production would prove him the starter at 2nd.

With a .289 average over his first two seasons in the majors and 28 home runs to his credit last year, Cantu’s been overshadowed by names like Crawford, Baldelli, even prospects that aren’t on the Rays yet seem to get more press than Jorge… But then again, who’s the guy that eliminated Team USA from the World Baseball Classic?

Over on the Vancouver Canucks Op-Ed blog, they’ve started a little project (via Frappr) to try to chronicle as many online hockey fans in the world as possible.

You don’t have to be a member of Frappr to join, so please post away. And while you’re at it, why not join the Boltsmag reader map on Frappr too?

Sean Burke is out indefinitely with a broken finger.

With 16 games left, ladies and gentlemen, the reeling Lightning have suffered another blow that puts not only John Grahame in the spotlight, but also the season resting on his pads.

Grahame has been inconsistent this season and there is no hiding it. He’s hit valley’s so low that the US Geological Survey had ranked him further below sea level than Death Valley, California. And his peaks? His peaks have rivaled the Himalayas in both height and grandness.

But the problem is there has been no plateau of steadiness for Grahame. One night, he will be All-World and the next — All-ECHL-Benchwarmer. This has been the crux of the season for the Lightning: if you aren’t steady in net, you’re not steady as a team.

Grahame’s got 16 games to prove he can be steady. 16 games in the limelight where he can prove he has come into his own and give a new lease on life to the Lightning’s Stanley Cup defense dreams. On the flip side, he has 16 games where he can further put an exclamation point on lack-of foresight and movement by Jay Feaster before the trade deadline to secure another netminder.

If you believe in Grahame, now is your time to expect him to shine. If you don’t – now is your time to pray.

From the St. Petersburg Times

Some people call Oakland Raiders wide receiver Randy Moss a bad boy for his on-field antics. But it was Moss’s agent who was arrested on Tuesday night on charges of having crack cocaine in his St. Petersburg hotel room, police said.

Louis Dante DiTrapano and wife Teri were both arrested.

At least it wasn’t an overall slaughter tonight.

The Lightning played “it’s game” tonight – going up, getting even, going up and giving it away – in Ottawa tonight… preserving pessimism among Lightning fans as the team ends it’s five game road trip.

Vincent lLecavalier scored twice for the Lightning — which gives him 30 on the year, and 3 goals in 2 games — opening scoring in general 2 minutes into play as well as scoring early in the second after play was delayed due to one of the boards being out of position. Dmitry Afanasenkov scored just seconds after the Lecavalier goal in the 2nd and it was 3-1…

And then the piss away began.

The Lightning played mostly fast and kept up with the Senators but were outclassed by the Heatly/Alfresson show once again — allowing Heatly to tie the game early in the 3rd and Alfredsson to win the game with all of 6 seconds left on the clock. 3 unanswered goals and the Lightning are back to reeling.

It’s not all dark after this loss (yet a good deal of it ever still) but the Lightning return home with it’s tail between it’s legs after an unproductive road swing…

Sidenote — anyone view TSN before tonights game or hear about the (appropriate) savaging of Bobby “The Chief” Taylor’s complaining from the night before in Montreal?