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.