Marty St. Louis may have been deemed too slow to play for Team Canada at the upcoming Sochi Olympic Games, but he was more than fast enough to lead the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 4-2 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday night. Thanks to two goals from the snubbed forward, Tampa was able to squeak out its 26th win of the season.
Despite having to battle back late-ish in the contest, the Bolts actually got off to a very hot start against the Jets. Just over one minute into the game, Valtteri Filppula opened the scoring with his 17th (!) goal of the season. Assisted by Teddy Purcell and Alex Killorn, the Finnish forward, who will represent his country in Sochi, showed off his puck handling skills before wristing the puck past Ondrej Pavelec for the 1-0 Lightning lead.
The Lightning weren’t able to hold that one goal advantage, though, as the Jets battled right back to take the lead with two power-play markers. Olli Jokinen evened the score at one with about three minutes left in the first before Dustin Byfuglien scored to give the Jets a 2-1 lead at the 4:45 mark of the second. Byfuglien’s goal, in particular, was a painful one to give up. It’s one that Anders Lindback, who started in place of an injured Ben Bishop, needs to have. That’s sort of been the story of the big goaltender’s season.
If there’s one thing Bolts Nation has learned this season, it’s to never count this Lightning team out. Following the Byfuglien goal, Tampa really turned up the heat. Simply put, the Bolts took control. The shot attempt (fenwick) chart for Tuesday’s game is perhaps most telling (and frightening, if you’re a Jets fan). The Lightning pulled in a bloody remarkable Corsi-for percentage of 64.7. Not bad.
That hard work was rewarded late in the second period when Ondrej Palat scored to tie the game at two. He was the recipient of some great passing from fellow Tampacuse alumni Alex Killorn and Nikita Kucherov. Palat, another 2014 Olympian, was just as good on Tuesday as he’s been all year for the Lightning. This guy, as I’ve now said a million times, is truly Mr. Everything. It’s hard to believe that he was a 2011 7th rounder. That’s smart drafting, scouting, and developing, if nothing else.
Tied at two heading into the third period, you just knew that Marty St. Louis had to be the one to break the game open. And it was. At the 8:39 mark of the third and with his team on the power-play, St. Louis tipped home his 18th goal of the year and first of two on the night. Assisted by fellow Olympic snub Victor Hedman and Teddy Purcell, St. Louis’ goal was the eventual game winner.
Marty would go on to score and empty net goal with only seconds left on the clock to cap what can only be described as a devastating day. I can only imagine that tonight’s game was a hard one for him to play, but he went out and performed like the Marty we all know and love. O Captain! My Captain!
It will be interesting to see how the relationship between Steve Yzerman and St. Louis changes over the coming months. Can it survive? I think it would be naà¯ve to suggest that there won’t be some strain there. Yzerman had the final say on Team Canada’s roster, and he chose to leave Marty at home. It’s not like he’s just leaving ‘some guy’ at home, either. Marty is the leader of Yzerman’s NHL club. Marty is the NHL’s leading scorer over the last four seasons. Marty is the reigning Art Ross Trophy winner. Steve Yzerman chose to leave one hell of a player off the roster.
Tough decisions are a part of the business; I get that. But this one might come with some serious costs. This next statement won’t come without some jeers, but it’s my belief that Yzerman’s primary duty is to be General Manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning. He didn’t hang up his Lightning hat to manage Team Canada. And now he’s going to have to live with the consequences. Steve Yzerman won’t, and can’t, be in St. Louis’ corner here. Lightning head coach Jon Cooper speculated that this decision will motivate Marty; I’m sure that it will on some level. What I’m not sure about is the relationship between the Bolts organization and its best player of all time. Color this fan concerned.
My final thought of the night will be this. What on earth was going on with the officiating on Tuesday? It was, to be blunt, frightening.
As always, thanks for reading.