Game 22: Tampa Bay at Minnesota

Tampa Bay lost to the Minnesota Wild 4-2, but don't let the score fool you. It was actually a really close game. It's an empty netter that makes it look otherwise.

I've heard for years that Jacques Lemaire's teams play a boring style of hockey. And that might normally be true, but this game was anything but boring. It was also a well played 60-minute effort by the Lightning as well.

You know, Lemaire's one of my favorite NHL coaches. I really ought to go watch the Wild play sometime. Probably not this season, but in the next one or two anyways.

The first and second periods were great. I thought that the Lightning forechecked and backchecked really well. And they had a good tempo going. They did look a little tired at the beginning of the third, tho. But they worked thru that and managed a great finish - despite losing.

I think that Lecavalier has started a trend. I noticed that Malone was skating backwards playing defensively, as was another forward - I think it was Prospal, but I'm not sure because of the camera angle. Frankly, I think it's a good trend. But then, I would.

Stats.... 1 for 5 on the powerplay, which was good...taking only 3 penalties was fantastic...outshooting Minnesota and keeping shots allowed down was also good...and winning 29 of 53 faceoffs was great. Lecavalier led all shooters for Tampa Bay with 6 shots, and both St. Louis and Prospal had 4 each.

It was tackle hockey out there. Guys kept diving for loose pucks like they were trying to recover a fumble. A few someones have been watching too much football this weekend already. I'm not sure Lecavalier should've gotten an assist on that Malone goal since I don't think he touched the puck, but it was a beautiful head-first dive into the crease. It was rather baseball-like of him.

On to Colorado tomorrow, and hopefully they can keep up the pace. Luckily, it's a weekend for me, otherwise, I'd have to be cranky about the 9 pm start time. I love hockey, but I also love sleep. It's just not fair to have to choose between the two.

I'm going to have to think long and hard about that upcoming West Coast road trip they've got. 10 or 10:30 start times? That's just not right. It's soo much easier to watch sports when you live on the West Coast!

Sphere: Related Content