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.