The Good, The Bad and the Ugly: TB 4 - OTT 8

Yes Bolts fans, it happened again. Riding high on a 3 game win streak, playing at home, the Lightning got trounced. As Cassie stated, this was a weird one. The Bolts were down 5-1 after two periods, were out shot 14-4 in the first, but never seemed to throw in the towel. The effort was there, but the play quality was not. That leads me to the title of the post, the good the bad and the ugly.

The Good:

Aside from the consistent effort, the return of Boyle was a great thing to see. With both wrists taped, he looked tentative early, for obvious reasons. But that soon changed. In his return after missing 36 games, he netted 2 goals, consistently got the puck in the zone on the power play, and finished the game with a +/- of 0.

Craig MacDonald had a goal and finished the game +3.

Nick Tarnasky had a goal and an assist and finished the game +2.

The Bad:

The 2nd and 3rd lines, and defense. Chris Gratton was -5, Filip Kuba -4, Jason Ward -4, Jan Hlavac -3, Lukowich -2, Ranger -2.

The Ugly:

Daniel Alfredsson had 7 points, a hat trick and 4 assists.

Johan Holmqvist surrendered 3 goals on 14 shots in the first and was pulled to start the second.

Kari Ramo gave up 5 goals on 22 shots in relief.

So what does it all mean? Most likely the beginning of another Lightning winning streak to come after the All Star break! But who knows really. This team has been so Jekyll and Hyde this year, there is no telling what the second half of the season will bring.

Also of note, Brett Hull and Dave Taylor of the Dallas Stars were at their second consecutive game last night. With all the rumours about a St. Louis for Turco trade that were bouncing around earlier this season, this should raise some eyebrows. When asked, Brett Hull said "We're not looking at anybody in particular, just a stop along the way, it's that time of the year, you know?" Yeah right. He may not be eyeing Marty, but UFA's-to-be Prospal and Holmqvist could be on their radar.


Also, on a bit of a personal non-hockey note, the wife and I are doing one of our annual charity events for the Humane Society of Tampa Bay. It's called Bark in the Park, and will be taking place March 22nd. If you would like to sponsor our "Hounds of the Heights" team, click here:


Or start your own team and come on out: Bark in the Park

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