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Tampa Bay Lightning Blogger •
You make your own breaks, so they say, and a lot certainly fell into place for the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night in their 5-2 victory over the visiting San Jose Sharks.
But it was the club's best effort yet this young season and they deserve a lot of credit for putting themselves in a winning position.
Earlier today, I talked about five factors that made tonight's game a pivotal one for the Bolts and, quickly before a little shuteye, I thought I'd take a look back at that forecast.
- The major shakeup among the forward ranks paid immediate dividends when rookie James Wright recorded his first career NHL goal just 30 seconds in. A little instant chemistry, perhaps, between Wright, Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis? The goal was a beauty of a play, as St. Louis one-timed a Lecavalier pass directly to Wright for a tap-in - the type of "bang-bang" play that you expect from a trio that has played together for years.
And the Bolts certainly needed to get on the board first one of these days. Wright's goal was the first time Tampa Bay has managed a 1-0 lead this season.
- Elsewhere, Ryan Malone and Steven Stamkos extended their hot starts as Malone tallied his seventh goal later in the first and Stamkos potted a pair to give him six of his own.
Stamkos' second goal was of the empty net variety and he actually looked to return a pass from Alex Tanguay for an uncontested shot at his first goal of the season but Tanguay was covered well by Sharks defenseman Rob Blake.
"I wanted to get it back to him but (Blake) had him so I thought I just better put it in the net before I do anything stupid or a guy catches me," Stamkos said after the game. "It just shows you what a class act Tangs is. He could have shot it in into the net but he passed it to me and it was a great play."
Tanguay may have passed up an empty netter and a chance to finally tally goal number one but he had a solid game overall. Aside from an assist on the second Stamkos goal, Tanguay had several good scoring chances, despite only being credited with a single shot on goal.
- Goaltender Mike Smith can rest well, knowing his first win in nine months is finally out of the way. He was very good against the Sharks, making 32 saves in total and a handful for the highlight reel. Early on, Smith made a key pad save on a Ryan Vesce rebound chance from the slot that kept the momentum in the Lightning's favor.
Most importantly, Smith admitted, was a boost in confidence from the win, both for himself and for the team.
"Hopefully, this will carry over and I can get some confidence from this game," he said. "The whole team can. We played really well tonight."
- Head coach Rick Tocchet won't have to worry about following through on his threat to shorten the bench in the wake of anyone not carrying their weight on the ice. His club got a thorough team effort tonight.
- The crowd was a bit of a downer again but, as I said this morning, win and all that will change. At 3-0-1 on the home schedule thus far, it's not as though the Lightning aren't giving fans a reason to head to the rink. Strike the last-second, game-tying goal in the New Jersey game and the Lightning are a perfect 4-0 at home.
Any way you look at it, they're off to a pretty decent start at the St. Pete Times Forum.
Start spreadin' that news, people ...
- Finally, and probably most importantly, though his goalless drought hit 15 games extending back into last season, Lecavalier had his best game to this point, according to Tocchet, who was complimentary of his captain post-game.
"I think it was his most solid game of the year," Tocchet said. "I don't care that he didn't score tonight. He was very solid. He went end-to-end with (Joe) Thornton and (Patrick) Marleau and we expect that from Vinny. It was a solid effort tonight."
The goals will come. They just have to.
For now, with efforts like this - from both player and team - Vinny Lecavalier and the Tampa Bay Lightning will be more than happy with the end results.
JJ
***Submit your questions for the first 2009-2010 edition of JJ's Mailbag.***
jon.jordan@hockeybuzz.com
JJ on Facebook
JJ on Twitter
But it was the club's best effort yet this young season and they deserve a lot of credit for putting themselves in a winning position.
Earlier today, I talked about five factors that made tonight's game a pivotal one for the Bolts and, quickly before a little shuteye, I thought I'd take a look back at that forecast.
- The major shakeup among the forward ranks paid immediate dividends when rookie James Wright recorded his first career NHL goal just 30 seconds in. A little instant chemistry, perhaps, between Wright, Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis? The goal was a beauty of a play, as St. Louis one-timed a Lecavalier pass directly to Wright for a tap-in - the type of "bang-bang" play that you expect from a trio that has played together for years.
And the Bolts certainly needed to get on the board first one of these days. Wright's goal was the first time Tampa Bay has managed a 1-0 lead this season.
- Elsewhere, Ryan Malone and Steven Stamkos extended their hot starts as Malone tallied his seventh goal later in the first and Stamkos potted a pair to give him six of his own.
Stamkos' second goal was of the empty net variety and he actually looked to return a pass from Alex Tanguay for an uncontested shot at his first goal of the season but Tanguay was covered well by Sharks defenseman Rob Blake.
"I wanted to get it back to him but (Blake) had him so I thought I just better put it in the net before I do anything stupid or a guy catches me," Stamkos said after the game. "It just shows you what a class act Tangs is. He could have shot it in into the net but he passed it to me and it was a great play."
Tanguay may have passed up an empty netter and a chance to finally tally goal number one but he had a solid game overall. Aside from an assist on the second Stamkos goal, Tanguay had several good scoring chances, despite only being credited with a single shot on goal.
- Goaltender Mike Smith can rest well, knowing his first win in nine months is finally out of the way. He was very good against the Sharks, making 32 saves in total and a handful for the highlight reel. Early on, Smith made a key pad save on a Ryan Vesce rebound chance from the slot that kept the momentum in the Lightning's favor.
Most importantly, Smith admitted, was a boost in confidence from the win, both for himself and for the team.
"Hopefully, this will carry over and I can get some confidence from this game," he said. "The whole team can. We played really well tonight."
- Head coach Rick Tocchet won't have to worry about following through on his threat to shorten the bench in the wake of anyone not carrying their weight on the ice. His club got a thorough team effort tonight.
- The crowd was a bit of a downer again but, as I said this morning, win and all that will change. At 3-0-1 on the home schedule thus far, it's not as though the Lightning aren't giving fans a reason to head to the rink. Strike the last-second, game-tying goal in the New Jersey game and the Lightning are a perfect 4-0 at home.
Any way you look at it, they're off to a pretty decent start at the St. Pete Times Forum.
Start spreadin' that news, people ...
- Finally, and probably most importantly, though his goalless drought hit 15 games extending back into last season, Lecavalier had his best game to this point, according to Tocchet, who was complimentary of his captain post-game.
"I think it was his most solid game of the year," Tocchet said. "I don't care that he didn't score tonight. He was very solid. He went end-to-end with (Joe) Thornton and (Patrick) Marleau and we expect that from Vinny. It was a solid effort tonight."
The goals will come. They just have to.
For now, with efforts like this - from both player and team - Vinny Lecavalier and the Tampa Bay Lightning will be more than happy with the end results.
JJ
***Submit your questions for the first 2009-2010 edition of JJ's Mailbag.***
jon.jordan@hockeybuzz.com
JJ on Facebook
JJ on Twitter
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