The Bolts are in fourth place in the Southeast Division and trail the division leading Florida Panthers by eight points. Tampa Bay is in 11th place in the 15 team Eastern Conference, eight points out of a playoff spot.

After 51 games, forward Steven Stamkos leads the team and the NHL in goals with 34. He leads the Bolts in and is third in the NHL in points with 57. Martin St. Louis is tops in assists with 33. Marc-Andre Bergeron leads the team in rating with a +8.

Forward Steve Downie is last in rating with a -16 and has accumulated 119 penalty minutes. Goalie Mathieu Garon has 16 wins, a 2.88 goals against average and a .901 save percentage.

Defenseman Eric Brewer leads Tampa Bay in ice time, averaging 23:19 per game. Steven Stamkos leads in shots on goal with 181.

The Lightning have scored 145 goals (10th in the NHL) and allowed 170 goals (30th (last) in the 30 team NHL). The Bolts special teams are far from average. The power play success rate is 13.7% (26th in the NHL) and the penalty kill is at 80.6% (24th in the NHL). The league average power play percentage is 17.3% and the average NHL team kills off 82.7% of their penalties successfully.

Tampa Bay is 21st in the league in faceoff percentage, winning just 49.3% of their draws.

Box Scores

Game 49 – Tampa Bay Lightning 4 – Washington Capitals 3 OT

Game 50 – Tampa Bay Lightning 1 – Winnipeg Jets 2 OT

Game 51 – Tampa Bay Lightning 6 – Florida Panthers 3

Three Stars of the Week

Martin St. Louis – Four goals and two assists.

Steven Stamkos – Two goals and three assists.

Vincent Lecavalier – One goal and three assists.

Transactions

The Lightning recalled and then reassigned Pierre-Cedric Labrie to Norfolk (AHL).

Injuries

Defenseman Mattias Ohlund remains on IR after undergoing surgery on both knees. Ohlund has had a major setback and his return this year is questionable.

Forward Adam Hall is out with an upper body injury and may return next week.

Forward Dana Tyrell is out for the year after having successful knee surgery.

Defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron is day-to-day with an upper body injury.

Forward Ryan Malone is day-to-day with an upper body injury.

Bolt Notes

The Bolts are eight points out of a playoff spot and eight points away from a division championship. 62 points are still out there to be won with 31 games left. For the Lightning to get into the postseason tournament, they will probably need to get 44 of those remaining 62 possible points. There are eight more games against divisional foes and the Bolts need to win all of those to have a chance. Realistically, Tampa Bay needs to win the division to make the playoffs. Possible? Yes. Probable? No.

The next handful of games will tell GM Steve Yzerman whether or not he  is a buyer or seller. If he is a seller, look for impending unrestricted free agents Dominic Moore, Ryan Shannon, Adam Hall, Pavel Kubina, Brett Clark, Matt Gilroy, Dwayne Roloson and Bruno Gervais to be offered up to the rest of the NHL.

The Week Ahead

Tampa Bay hosts Los Angeles on Tuesday. They travel to the New York Rangers on Thursday, Buffalo on Saturday and Pittsburgh on Sunday.

The Quarterdeck Log – Norfolk Admirals Week In Review

By Ken Peacock

About The Author

A man with an identity crisis. A full time fan of all things hockey and supporter of the AHL’s Norfolk Admirals, the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Washington Capitals. A fan of two NHL teams in the same division? Really? Yes, it can be done. It’s tough, but it can be done. I am also a full time husband, IT Professional, and a Norfolk Admirals Hockey Blogger at Vultures Row.

Weekly Log

After the All-Star break, Norfolk found itself in Adirondack for a Friday night game against former Admiral Michael Leighton and the Phantoms. The Phantoms claimed an early one goal lead as Leighton baffled the Admirals offense. Adirondack would score once more in the second. Norfolk’s Carter Ashton finally put the Admirals on the board midway through the second period. Unfortunately, Leighton and the Phantoms would shut down the Admirals offense for the rest of the night. The Phantoms would add another goal for insurance and send Norfolk on to Springfield with a 3-1 loss.

Saturday, Springfield goalie Manny Legace was hoping to celebrate his 40^th birthday with a win. Norfolk jumped out to a two goal lead with goals from Evan Oberg and Richard Panik. Springfield struck back with a goal five minutes into the second period. The Admirals Trevor Smith scored twice to make it 4-1. Manny Legace was pulled in favor of backup goalie, Paul Dainton. Dainton was put to the test and surrendered goals to Mark Barberio and Jeff DImmen. Norfolk and Springfield both went scoreless in the third and the Admirals retired for the night with the 6-1 win.

Super Bowl Sunday was not so super for the Admirals. After a goal filled game the previous night, the Admiral fans were hoping to see more of the same offensive power on Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately they would be disappointed. Springfield grabbed the early lead, 1-0 after the first period. The Admirals owned the second period as Pierre-Cedric Labrie and Michel Ouelett each scored. Disaster struck in the third as the offense was shut down and the defense mailed the remainder of the game in.Springfield struck three times and took home a 4-2 win.

Cory Conacher (25G 26A 51Pts +4), Trevor Smith (18G 32A 50Pts +21) and Mark Barberio (6G 33A 39Pts +16) find themselves at the top of the Ad’s scoring list. Conacher was unusually quiet this weekend with just two assists. Goaltender Dustin Tokarski (19-11-0 2.50GAA) went 1-1 this week while Jaroslav Janus (8-8-2 3.16GAA) went 0-1.

For the Season the Admirals are 27-18-1-2 with 57 points. They are currently six points behind the East Division leading Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Norfolk is currently on a 0-1-0-0 streak and is 5-5-0-0 in their last ten games.

Three Stars of the Week

Trevor Smith – Two goals and three assists.

Evan Oberg – One goal and three assists.

Pierre-Cedric Labrie – One goal and two assists.

Transactions

Pierre-Cedric Labrie – Returned to the Norfolk Admirals (AHL).

Injuries

Richard Petiot – Undisclosed – Day-to-day

Alexandre Picard – Undisclosed – Day-to-day

An Observation from the Stands

The second half of the season is in full swing. Norfolk finds itself in fifth place in the division. The Admirals need every point that they can get. This road swing was brutal as they gave up four out of a possible six points and fell three more points behind the Penguins. It does not look like the Penguins or the Hershey Bears are going to make this any easier for Norfolk. Adirondack will be in town this weekend and the Admirals need to play every game like it’s a playoff game. They played like that at home against the Bears, but it seems that they play down to their competition. It is high time that the Admirals snap out of it and play each game like it is their last!

The Week Ahead

The Admirals play a weekend series at home against the Adirondack Phantoms this Friday and Saturday night.

Follow WB Philp on Twitter @LightningShout and “Like” Hockey Independent Lightning on Facebook.

Follow Ken Peacock on Twitter @VBKen.

The Bolts are in fourth place in the Southeast Division and trail the division leading Florida Panthers by ten points. Tampa Bay is in 13th place in the 15 team Eastern Conference, nine points out of a playoff spot.

After 47 games, forward Steven Stamkos leads the team and the NHL in goals with 32. He leads the Bolts in and is second in the NHL in points with 52. Martin St. Louis is tops in assists with 30. Marc-Andre Bergeron leads the team in rating with a +8.

Forward Steve Downie is last in rating with a -17 and has accumulated 111 penalty minutes. Goalie Mathieu Garon has 13 wins, a 2.95 goals against average and a .901 save percentage.

Defenseman Eric Brewer leads Tampa Bay in ice time, averaging 23:23 per game. Steven Stamkos leads in shots on goal with 163.

The Lightning have scored 130 goals (11th in the NHL) and allowed 160 goals (30th (last) in the 30 team NHL). The Bolts futile special teams got even worse this past week. The power play success rate is 13.3% (28th in the NHL) and the penalty kill is at 79.6% (25th in the NHL). The league average power play percentage is 17.3% and the average NHL team kills off 82.8% of their penalties successfully. Currently, the Lightning is mired in a 4-41 power play drought, including a 1-34 road power play skid.

Tampa Bay is 23rd in the league in faceoff percentage, winning just 49.1% of their draws.

Box Scores

Game 45 – Tampa Bay Lightning 5 – Boston Bruins 3

Game 46 – Tampa Bay Lightning 2 – Dallas Stars 1

Game 47 – Tampa Bay Lightning 4 – Phoenix Coyotes 3

Three Stars of the Week

Martin St. Louis – One goal and four assists.

Teddy Purcell – Three goals.

Vincent Lecavalier – One goal and three assists.

Transactions

The Lightning reassigned defenseman Evan Oberg to Norfolk (AHL).

Injuries

Forward Ryan Shannon is out with a lower body injury.

Defenseman Mattias Ohlund remains on IR after undergoing surgery on both knees. Ohlund has had a major setback and his return this year is questionable.

Defenseman Victor Hedman is out indefinitely with a concussion.

Forwards JT Wyman is day-to-day with an upper body injury.

Forward Adam Hall is out with an upper body injury.

Defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron is day-to-day with an upper body injury.

Forward Ryan Malone is day-to-day with an upper body injury.

Forward Steve Downie is day to day with an upper body injury.

Bolt Notes

The Bolts went 3-0 this past week with two straight road wins. The playoffs are not out of the question, but with 35 games remaining, the Bolts are nine points out of the last playoff spot and they need to jump over five teams. The injury list is long and the AHL call ups are many. Tampa Bay should get much healthier after Tuesday’s game when the league will fall silent during the All-Star break. The Lightning look like they will stand pat and not look for help through trades. Dwayne Roloson is now clearly the backup goalie to Mathieu Garon, but that could change at any moment as Tampa Bay has pulled its starting goalie a total of nine times through 47 games.

The Week Ahead

Tampa Bay hosts Columbus on Tuesday before the All-Star break.

The Quarterdeck Log – Norfolk Admirals Week In Review

By Ken Peacock

About The Author

A man with an identity crisis. A full time fan of all things hockey and supporter of the AHL’s Norfolk Admirals, the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Washington Capitals. A fan of two NHL teams in the same division? Really? Yes, it can be done. It’s tough, but it can be done. I am also a full time husband, IT Professional, and a Norfolk Admirals Hockey Blogger at Vultures Row.

Weekly Log

First up for the Admirals this past week was the Albany Devils. The Devils have won all previous meetings with Norfolk this year. Albany struck first and built a 3-1 lead after one period of play. Cory Conacher scored the lone Admiral goal. The Admirals scored twice early in the second with goals from Evan Oberg and Mark Barberio. Albany would score their last goal of the night in the second before surrendering two more goals to Michel Ouellet and Admirals Captain, Mike Angelidis. Both teams went scoreless in the third period. Despite the rough first period, the Admirals were able to battle back for the 5-4 win. Dustin Tokarski played well, with the exception of the first period.

The Admirals moved on to Syracuse, New York for a Friday night matchup against the Syracuse Crunch. Once again Norfolk dug themselves a big hole. At the end of two periods it was six goals for the Crunch and a big goose egg for Norfolk. At the beginning of the third period goalie Jaroslav Janus was pulled in favor of Dustin Tokarski. Mike Angelidis and Richard Panik scored goals, but it was not enough to win the game.Syracuse took home the 6-3 victory and sent Norfolk on a nice bus ride to Connecticut.

It was just a week ago that Connecticut and Norfolk met down in Virginia. The Admirals won both of the games at Scope and were hoping to add one more in Connecticut. This game was very similar to the two previous matches as Norfolk found themselves down 3-1 at the end of one. Dustin Tokarski was pulled after surrendering three goals on three shots. Tyler Johnson scored the lone Admiral goal. Ondrej Palat would cut the lead to 3-2 with the lone goal of the second period. Carter Ashton opened the scoring in the third to tie the game at three. Cory Conacher would put the Admirals ahead 18 seconds later to give Norfolk the 4-3 lead. Less than two minutes laterSyracuse would tie the game and send it to overtime. After a scoreless overtime period a shootout took place. It took ten rounds to complete the shootout, but in the end Richard Panik secured the 5-4 win for the Admirals.

Cory Conacher (24G 22A 46Pts +3) and Mark Barberio (5G 32A 37Pts +16) find themselves at the top of the Admirals in scoring. Conacher leads the AHL in goals scored and is fifth overall in scoring. Carter Ashton (16G 14A 30Pts +7) is holding on to fourth place in scoring. Dustin Tokarski (17-9-0 2.53GAA) was pulled from the Connecticut game after allowing three goals on three shots. Jaroslav Janus (8-6-2 3.17GAA) went 1-1 this week.

For the Season the Admirals are 25-14-1-2 with 53 points. They are currently two points behind the East Division leading Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.Norfolk is currently on a 1-0-0-0 streak and is 5-3-1-1 in their last ten games.

Angelidis leads the way for the Admirals

Three Stars of the Week

Mike Angelidis – Three goals.

Cory Conacher – Two goals and an assist.

Mark Barberio – One goal and an assist.

Transactions

Trevor Smith – Recalled to the Tampa Bay Lightning (NHL).

Kevin Quick – Assigned to the Florida Everblades (ECHL).

Charles Landry – Returned to the Norfolk Admirals (AHL).

Evan Oberg – Returned to theNorfolk Admirals (AHL).

Injuries

Richard Petiot – Undisclosed – Day-to-day

An Observation from the Stands

Lately the Admirals have let the opposition build an early lead. In all three games this week Norfolk had to fight back from two to three goal deficits. They lost one, won one in regulation and won in the tenth round of a shootout. Even with the call ups missing from the lineup they still have a potent offense and it shows. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Tampa Bay not only has a goalie situation in the NHL, but the AHL netminding isn’t looking that good either. You can look at the stats and say that Tokarski isn’t having a bad season, but what you see on paper is not always what you see on the ice. He need some work before the Bolts bring him up.

The Week Ahead

Next up for the Admirals is a three-game home stand starting Tuesday night against the Charlotte Checkers followed by a Friday and Saturday night series against the Hershey Bears.

Follow WB Philp on Twitter @LightningShout and “Like” Hockey Independent Lightning on Facebook.

Follow Ken Peacock on Twitter @VBKen.

The Bolts are in fifth (last) place in the Southeast Division and trail the division leading Washington Capitals by twelve points. Tampa Bay is in 15th place in the 15 team Eastern Conference, twelve points out of a playoff spot.

After 44 games, forward Steven Stamkos leads the team and the NHL in goals with 30. He leads the Bolts in points with 50 (third in the NHL). Martin St. Louis is tops in assists with 25. Marc-Andre Bergeron leads the team in rating with a +8.

Forward Steve Downie is last in rating with an alarming -19 and has accumulated 107 penalty minutes. Goalie Mathieu Garon has 11 wins, a 2.94 goals against average and a .900 save percentage.

Defenseman Eric Brewer leads Tampa Bay in ice time, averaging 23:18 per game. Steven Stamkos leads in shots on goal with 152.

The Lightning have scored 119 goals (12th in the NHL) and allowed 153 goals (30th (last) in the 30 team NHL). The Bolts special teams remain bad. The power play success rate is 14.1% (26th in the NHL) and the penalty kill is at 78.9% (26th in the NHL). The league average power play percentage is 17.3% and the average NHL team kills off 82.7% of their penalties successfully. Currently, the Lightning is mired in a 4-41 power play drought, including a 1-34 road power play skid.

Tampa Bay is 23rd in the league in faceoff percentage, winning just 49% of their draws.

Box Scores

Game 41 – Tampa Bay Lightning 4 – Vancouver Canucks 5 SO

Game 42 – Tampa Bay Lightning 2 – Carolina Hurricanes 5

Game 43 – Tampa Bay Lightning 3 – Washington Capitals 4

Game 44 – Tampa Bay Lightning 3 – Pittsburgh Penguins 6

Three Stars of the Week

Vincent Lecavalier – One goal and four assists.

Martin St. Louis – Five assists.

Steven Stamkos – One goal and three assists.

Transactions

The Lightning announced a two year-one way contract extension for $600,000 per year for forward Tom Pyatt.

The Lightning called up forward Trevor Smith from Norfolk (AHL).

Injuries

Forward Ryan Shannon is out 2-4 weeks with a lower body injury.

Defenseman Mattias Ohlund remains on IR after undergoing surgery on both knees. Ohlund has had a major setback and his return this year is questionable.

Defenseman Victor Hedman is out indefinitely with a concussion.

Forwards JT Wyman is day-to-day with an upper body injury.

Forward Adam Hall is out 6-8 weeks with an upper body injury.

Defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron is day-to-day with an upper body injury.

Forward Dana Tyrell is day-to-day with a lower body injury.

Bolt Notes

The Bolts went 0-4 this past week. Tampa Bay has dropped their last seven games and nine of their last twelve. They are at the bottom of the Southeast Division and the Eastern Conference. They are 27th of the 30 NHL teams. Tampa Bay is an awful road team going 6-16-3 so far in 2012.

The numbers don’t lie. The Lightning are a last place team with a brutally bad defense and ineffective goaltending. Of the 77 NHL goalies that have suited up this season, Mathieu Garon and Dwayne Roloson rank 58th and 72nd in goals against average respectively. The duo is 58th and 71st in save percentage.

While many believe this is a team that has the ability to come back after trailing…don’t believe it! The Bolts have won only 26% of the games when they have trailed in the first period.

The Lightning is giving up 31 shots per game on average, while getting 28 shots on goal.

At this point, Tampa Bay looks like a seller, but one without much to offer. GM Steve Yzerman will not trade a prospect, as one player, not even a goalie can save the season.

The Week Ahead

Tampa Bay hosts Boston on Tuesday, travels to Dallas on Friday and Phoenix on Saturday.

The Quarterdeck Log – Norfolk Admirals Week In Review

By Ken Peacock

About The Author

A man with an identity crisis. A full time fan of all things hockey and supporter of the AHL’s Norfolk Admirals, the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Washington Capitals. A fan of two NHL teams in the same division? Really? Yes, it can be done. It’s tough, but it can be done. I am also a full time husband, IT Professional, and a Norfolk Admirals Hockey Blogger at Vultures Row.

Weekly Log

The Norfolk Admirals faced off for a rare Tuesday night meeting with the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins at home in the “friendly” confines of the Norfolk Scope. The previous meeting, a week ago, resulted in a win for the Admirals. This meeting would not be as nice as the Penguins had revenge on their minds.  Paul Thompson and Ben Street of the Penguins would give the Baby Pens an early 3-0 lead in the first period. Michel Ouellett and Radko Gudas would get the Admirals on the board in the second. Unfortunately for the Admirals these would their only goals of the night. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton held Norfolk scoreless the rest of the way and went home with the 3-2 win.

Next, the Connecticut Whale and Sean Avery arrived in town for a weekend series with the Admirals. The Fans were disappointed when Avery was scratched for disciplinary reasons. The Admirals were not focused on the former NHL bad-boy, but instead, focused on the game and getting two points. Mike Kostka opened up the scoring midway into the first period. Cory Conacher added another goal early in the second period. Matt Fornataro score five minutes later to put the Ad’s up 3-0. The Admirals shut-out was ruined as Aaron Voros put the puck past Admirals netminder, Dustin Tokarski. The Voros goal would be the Whales’s only score as the Admirals shut down the Whale for the 3-1 win.

The Whale and the Admirals were back at it on Saturday night for Norfolk’s annual “Pink in the Rink” night to benefit the Susan G. Komen Cure for Cancer and Breast Cancer Awareness. A season high crowd of 7,227 was on hand to see the game and the bonus was an appearance by Sean Avery. The night was Richard Panik’s night as he gave Whale goalie, Cameron Talbot, a “Panik Attack”. Panik opened up the scoring with a goal in the first and another midway thru the second period to give Norfolk a 2-0 lead. Kelsey Tessier and Aaron Voros would score later in the second to tie the game at two each. Mike Kostka and Matt Fornataro would combine to put Norfolk ahead early in the third period. Fornataro deflected Kostka’s pass past Talbot for his second goal in two nights. Mike Angelidis added the insurance goal late in the third.Norfolk won the game 4-2 and swept the Whale.

Trevor Smith (16G 28A 44Pts +17) and Cory Conacher (22G 21A 43Pts +7) find themselves at the top of Norfolk’s scoring list. Smith and Conacher continue to keep moving forward. Mark Barberio (4G 31A 35Pts +20) leads all Norfolk defensemen and is in third place amongst all Admirals in scoring. Carter Ashton (15G 13A 28Pts +9) is seriously falling behind the leaders, but maintains a hold on fourth place in scoring. Dustin Tokarski (16-9-0 2.9GAA) went 2-1 this week. Jaroslav Janus (7-5-2 3.04GAA) did not play this week.

For the Season the Admirals are 23-13-1-2 with 49 points. They are currently 6 points behind the East Division leading Hershey Bears. Norfolkis currently on a 2-0-0-0 streak and is 6-2-1-1 in their last ten games.

Three Stars of the Week

Richard Panik – Two goals.

Mike Kostka  – One goal and two assists.

Mark Barberio – Three assists.

Transactions

Kevin Quick – Assigned to the Florida Everblades (ECHL).

Charles Landry – Assigned to the Florida Everblades (ECHL).

Injuries

Richard Petiot – Undisclosed – Day-to-day

An Observation from the Stands

Tuesday night was not pretty. The Penguins totally outplayed Norfolk. While the score on paper looked close, it was nowhere near that. Friday and Saturday the Admirals played like they played at the beginning of the season. I don’t know what went on in practice, but whatever they discussed they were on point this weekend. Mark Barberio is having a great season. He is all over the place on the ice and holds the defense together. Richard Panik has shown what he is capable of doing, but needs to keep doing it on a regular basis.

Sean Avery lived up to his reputation. He was scratched from the first game for disciplinary reasons. He was spotted out on the town sitting at a bar being ignored by fellow members of the Whale. During warm-ups on Saturday night he was heckled and challenged a few of the hecklers to come on the ice. During the game he would argue with the referees, slashed an Admirals player, and got tossed for abusing the officials. Yes, he definitely lived up to his reputation. Even though he was very entertaining, I wouldn’t want him on my team.

The Week Ahead

Next up for the Admirals is a three-game road trip starting Wednesday night in Albany, N.Y.against the Devils, Friday night against the Syracuse Crunch, and a rematch with the Whale on Saturday night in Connecticut.

Follow WB Philp on Twitter @LightningShout and “Like” Hockey Independent Lightning on Facebook.

Follow Ken Peacock on Twitter @VBKen.

The Bolts are in fourth place in the Southeast Division and trail the division leading Florida Panthers by eleven points. Tampa Bay is in 13th place in the 15 team Eastern Conference, nine points out of a layoff spot.

After 40 games, forward Steven Stamkos leads the team and the NHL in goals with 28. He leads the Bolts in points with 43. Martin St. Louis is tops in assists with 21. Marc-Andre Bergeron leads the team in rating with a +7. Steve Downie is last in rating with an alarming -17.

Forward Steve Downie is last in rating with an alarming -17 and has accumulated 100 penalty minutes. Goalie Mathieu Garon has 11 wins, a 2.85 goals against average and a .903 save percentage.

Defenseman Eric Brewer leads Tampa Bay in ice time, averaging 23:14 per game. Steven Stamkos leads in shots on goal with 139.

The Lightning have scored 107 goals (17th in the NHL) and allowed 134 goals (28th in the 30 team NHL). The Bolts special teams are awful. The power play success rate is at a season low 13.77% (27th in the NHL) and the penalty kill slipped below 80% at 79.50% (23rd in the NHL). The Bolts are in the middle of an appalling 1-34 road power play skid.Tampa Bay is 25th in the league in faceoff percentage, winning just 48.5% of their draws.

Tampa Bay has won 11 of 16 games at the Tampa Bay Times Forum and six of 24 games on the road.

Box Scores

Game 38 – Tampa Bay Lightning 3 – Toronto Maple Leafs 7

Game 39 – Tampa Bay Lightning 1 – Ottawa Senators 4

Game 40 – Tampa Bay Lightning 1 – Montreal Canadiens 3

Three Stars of the Week

Vincent Lecavalier – Two goals and an assist.

Steven Stamkos – Two goals.

Dominic Moore – Two assists.

Transactions

Tampa Bay acquired defenseman Brendan Mikkelson from Calgary for forward Blair Jones.

Pierre-Cedric Labrie was recalled by the Lightning.

Forward Brett Connolly returned from Team Canada.

The Lightning announce a two year-one way contract extension for $600,000 per year for forward Tom Pyatt.

Injuries

Forward Ryan Shannon is out 2-4 weeks with a lower body injury.

Defenseman Mattias Ohlund remains on IR after undergoing surgery on both knees. Ohlund has had a major setback and his return this year is questionable.

Defenseman Victor Hedman is out indefinitely with a concussion.

Forwards JT Wyman and Adam Hall are day-to-day with upper body injuries.

Bolt Notes

The Bolts went 0-3 this past week. At the mid-season mark, Tampa Bay is in trouble. They are nine points out of a playoff spot with four teams to jump over to get into the postseason tournament. The Lightning plays nine of its next 12 games at home and must go on a run to maintain hopes of a playoff appearance in 2012. The Bolts have lost 18 road games, only two less than their total road losses last season.

The first half MVP is superstar Steven Stamkos. The Tampa Bay sniper has a NHL best 28 goals and is on pace for another 50 goal season. The 21 year old center has grabbed hold of a leadership role with the team and is playing a more physical game, getting to the front of the net and battling for “garbage” goals.

The biggest disappointment  of the first half is $3 million goaltender Dwayne Roloson, who is 6-9 with a 3.76 goals against average and an .881 save percentage, last and second to last in the NHL respectively.

The Week Ahead

Tampa Bay hosts Vancouver on Tuesday and  Carolina on Thursday. The Bolts travel to Washington on Friday before hosting Pittsburgh on Sunday.

The Quarterdeck Log – Norfolk Admirals Week In Review

By Ken Peacock

About The Author

A man with an identity crisis. A full time fan of all things hockey and supporter of the AHL’s Norfolk Admirals, the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Washington Capitals. A fan of two NHL teams in the same division? Really? Yes, it can be done. It’s tough, but it can be done. I am also a full time husband, IT Professional, and a Norfolk Admirals Hockey Blogger at Vultures Row.

Weekly Log

On Wednesday night, the Norfolk Admirals faced off against division rivals, the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Pennsylvania. The normally tough Brad Thiessen was just not himself. The Admirals beat Thiessen three times in the third period. Richard Panik, Cory Conacher, and Radko Gudas  all lit the lamp to give Norfolk a 3-0 lead. The Penguins put their only goal of the night in the second frame. Cory Conacher would get his second of the night in the third and Mike Angelidis put things to bed with the Admirals fifth goal of the night. Dustin Tokarski stopped 20 of 21 shots in theNorfolk 5-1 win.

Friday night had the Admirals and Albany Devils squaring off at the Norfolk Scope. Norfolkdominated the first two periods with goals from Mark Barberio, Carter Ashton, Trevor Smith, and Evan Oberg. Halfway thru the third period Norfolk fell asleep and Albany started their comeback. The Devils would score four unanswered goals and send the game to overtime.Albany finished the Admirals off with a goal at 3:31 of the overtime period for the 5-4 win.

The Devils were back on Saturday night and set the tone early. Stephane Veilleux of the Devils slashed Cory Conacher as the teams lined up for the opening face-off. If they were trying to intimidate the Admirals, it worked.Albanydominated the entire game. They scored their first goal in the first and added two more in the second.Norfolkwas only able to put one goal on the board from Richard Panik. With the 3-1 win the Devils have now won all four meetings of the season.

Trevor Smith (16G 28A 44Pts +18) and Cory Conacher (2G 20A 41Pts +7) find themselves at the top for scoring. Smith and Conacher are 3^rd and 5^th in scoring in the AHL.  Mark Barberio (4G 28A 32Pts +18) leads allNorfolk defensemen and is in third place amongst all Admirals in scoring. Carter Ashton (15G 12A 27Pts +9) continues to hold onto fourth place.  Dustin Tokarski (14-8-0 2.45GAA) went 1-1 this week. Jaroslav Janus (7-5-2 3.04GAA) lost in his only start this week to the Albany Devils.

For the Season the Admirals are 21-12-1-2 with 45 points. They are currently four points behind the East Division leading Hershey Bears.Norfolkis currently on a 0-1-1-0 streak and is 5-3-1-1 in their last ten games.

Three Stars of the Week

Cory Conacher  – Two goals and an assist.

Trevor Smith – One goal and four assists.

Richard Panik – Two goals.

Transactions

Evan Oberg – Returned by theTampaBay Lightning.

Pierre-Cedric Labrie – Recalled by theTampaBay Lightning.

Injuries

Alexander Picard – Undisclosed injury – Day to day

Richard Petiot – Undisclosed injury – Day to day

Kevin Quick – Lower body injury – Day to day

An Observation from the Stands

One of the big issues Norfolk has had in the past is starting slowely after the Christmas break. The Admirals have played six games and lost three of them. You can attribute the losses to bad breaks, penalties, carelessness, or flat out being outplayed. At the end of the day none of these excuses matter. A loss is a loss and losing those points will matter at the end of the season. The last two games against Albanywere terrible performances by the Admirals. In the first game they built a four goal lead and lost it in the final 15 minutes. The following game they let the Devils walk all over them.Albanyhas won all four meetings with the Admirals this season. It’s time forNorfolkto wake up and beat them.

The Week Ahead

The Admirals remain home for three games this week. The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins will be in town for a rare Tuesday night game. Sean Avery and the Connecticut Whale come to town Friday and Saturday night.

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The Bolts are in fourth place in the Southeast Division and trail the division leading Florida Panthers by ten points. Tampa Bay is in 12th place in the 15 team Eastern Conference, six points out of a layoff spot.

After 37 games, forward Steven Stamkos leads the team and the NHL in goals with 26. He leads the Bolts in points with 43 (4th in the NHL). Martin St. Louis is tops in assists with 20. Stamkos leads the team in rating with a +12.

Forward Steve Downie has accumulated 80 penalty minutes and goalie Mathieu Garon has 11 wins, a 2.73 goals against average and a .907 save percentage.

Defenseman Eric Brewer leads Tampa Bay in ice time, averaging 23:18 per game. Steven Stamkos leads in shots on goal with 128.

The Lightning have scored 102 goals (13th in the NHL) and allowed 120 goals (25th in the 30 team NHL). The Bolts special teams still need work. The power play success rate is 14.7% (24th in the NHL) and the penalty kill slipped to 80.1% (24th in the NHL). Tampa Bay is 25th in the league in faceoff percentage, winning just 48.8% of their draws.

Tampa Bay has won 11 of 16 games at the Tampa Bay Times Forum and six of 21 games on the road.

Box Scores

Game 35 – Tampa Bay Lightning 5 – Philadelphia Flyers 1

Game 36 – Tampa Bay Lightning 4 – Montreal Canadiens 3

Game 37 – Tampa Bay Lightning 5 – Carolina Hurricanes 2

Three Stars of the Week

Steven Stamkos – Six goals.

Martin St. Louis – Six assists.

Steve Downie – Two goals and five assists.

Transactions

The Lightning recalled defenseman Evan Oberg from Norfolk for the sixth time this season.

The Lightning announced the signing of Norfolk forward Pierre-Cedric Labrie to a two year, two way contract.

Injuries

Forward Ryan Shannon is out 2-4 weeks with a lower body injury.

Defenseman Mattias Ohlund remains on IR after undergoing surgery on both knees. Ohlund has had a major setback and his return this year is questionable.

Forward Nate Thompson is day-to-day with a lower body injury.

Defenseman Victor Hedman is out indefinitely with a concussion.

Bolt Notes

Tampa Bay got just what they needed this week. The Bolts went 3-0 and accumulated six out of a possible six points. The Lightning has won five of their last seven games. The offense is clicking as they averaged over four goals per game and gave up only two goals per game. Goalie Mathieu Garon sparkled with three wins, a 2.00 goals against average and a .935 save percentage. Superstar Steven Stamkos jumped to the top of the NHL goal scoring race, netting six goals in three games to give him 26 on the year. Martin St. Louis is back and better than ever after a facial fracture. He had six helpers this week. Ryan Malone had a three assist game Saturday night versus Carolina and recent call up JT Wyman scored his first NHL goal and garnered two points this week.

The Week Ahead

Tampa Bay is at Toronto on Tuesday, at Ottawa on Thursday and at Montreal on Saturday.

The Quarterdeck Log – Norfolk Admirals Week In Review

By Ken Peacock

About The Author

A man with an identity crisis. A full time fan of all things hockey and supporter of the AHL’s Norfolk Admirals, the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Washington Capitals. A fan of two NHL teams in the same division? Really? Yes, it can be done. It’s tough, but it can be done. I am also a full time husband, IT Professional, and a Norfolk Admirals Hockey Blogger at Vultures Row.

Weekly Log

The Norfolk Admirals returned to action after the Christmas break with a Wednesday night game against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Bridgeport opened up the scoring eight minutes into the first period. This would be their only goal of the night as the Admirals defense shut the Sound Tigers down. Norfolk would get two goals in the second period from Mike Kostka and Philip-Micheal Devos. This would be all that the Admirals needed to secure the 2-1 victory. Both teams went scoreless in the defensive third period. Dustin Tokarski  was stellar in net turning aside 26 of the 27 shots.

Friday night saw the Admirals and Sound Tigers back in action once more at the Scope. Norfolk dominated the first and second periods. Cory Conacher and Matt Fornataro would score in the opening period. Tyler Johnson would add another in the second frame. The Admirals found themselves in penalty trouble in the third period and Bridgeport capitalized on those mistakes. The Sound Tigers scored two quick power play goals before the Admirals were able to recover. Bridgeport continued to put on the pressure, but Tokarski answered back and the Admirals held on for the 3-2 win. Bridgeport winger, Tomas Marcinko was injured when Jean-Philippe Cote of the Admirals was pushed to the ice.Cote’s skate came up and caught Marcinko in the neck. Marcinko was rushed to aNorfolk hospital and required surgery. Marcinko is back with Bridgeport and recovering from his injury.

Norfolk was in Hershey on Saturday for a New Year’s Eve match against the division leading Bears.  Ondrej Palat opened the scoring in the first period for the Admirals. Hershey would strike back in the second. Norfolk found themselves on the power play twice, but the defense failed as the Bears would get two shorthanded goals to take a 2-1 lead into the locker room. Mike Kostka tied the game in the third and sent the game to overtime. Both teams failed to score in the overtime frame and that brought on the shootout. Braden Holtby stopped all five of the Norfolk shooters, while Jaroslav Janus stopped all but Keith Aucoin. Aucoin’s shootout goal secured the 3-2 Bear win.

Trevor Smith (15G 24A 39Pts +17) and Cory Conacher (19G 19A 38Pts +6) find themselves atop the Admirals scoring list. Mark Barberio (3G 26A 29Pts +19) leads all Norfolk defensemen and is in third place among all Admirals in scoring. Carter Ashton (14G 11A 25Pts +9) continues to hold onto fourth place.  Dustin Tokarski (13-7-0 2.40GAA) went 2-0 this week. Jaroslav Janus (7-4-2 3.04GAA) lost the shootout decision against the Bears on Saturday.

For the Season the Admirals are 20-11-0-2 with 42 points. They are currently 2 points behind the East Division leading Hershey Bears. Norfolk is currently on a 4-0-0-1 streak and is 7-2-0-1 in their last ten games.

Three Stars of the Week

Mike Kostka - Two goals, one assist, a +1 rating and seven shots on goal.

Kostka is the first star of the week

Dustin Tokarski – Two wins in two games and stopped 53 of 56 shots.

Cory Conacher  – One goal, two assists and a +1 rating.

Transactions

J.T. Wyman – Recalled by the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Evan Oberg – Recalled by the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Charles Landry – Assigned to the Norfolk Admirals (AHL) from the Florida Everblades (ECHL)

Pierre-Cedric Labrie – Signed to a two-way NHL contract by the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Injuries

Alexander Picard – Undisclosed – Day-to-day

Pierre-Cedric Labrie– Undisclosed – Day-to-day

Richard Petiot – Undisclosed – Day-to-day

Kevin Quick – Lower Body Injury – Day-to-day

An Observation from the Stands

Norfolk has a bad habit of coming back from the holiday break and losing a few. Coach Cooper must have had a good talk with them before the first game and they came out hungry for a win. The games against Bridgeport were solid games. If there is one thing that they still need to work on, it is taking to many penalties. They have to cut down or it will come back and bite them in the rear end.  Dustin Tokarski and the defense played great games againstBridgeport. The Admirals truly deserved the wins.

Saturday’s loss against the division leading Bears was a result of a defensive collapse. The defense that played well on Wednesday and Friday failed to show up in Hershey. Having the man advantage usually benefits a team, but not the Admirals. Twice they allowed shorthanded goals to the league’s top offensive team. Not a good night for the boys. It is time to tighten their belts and get things together. We are all looking for a nice long run, deep into the playoffs this year. Time to get things going guys!

The Week Ahead

The Admirals find themselves on the road Wednesday night in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for a match against the Penguins. Norfolk returns home for a Friday and Saturday night set against the Albany Devils.

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The Bolts are in fourth place in the Southeast Division and trail the division leading Florida Panthers by twelve points. Tampa Bay has fallen to 13th place in the 15 team Eastern Conference.

After 34 games, forward Steven Stamkos leads the team in goals with 20 (1st in the NHL) and points with 37. Marc-Andre Bergeron is tops in assists with 19. Stamkos leads the team in rating with a +10.

Forward Steve Downie has accumulated 76 penalty minutes and goalie Mathieu Garon has eight wins, a 2.84 goals against average and a .902 save percentage. Dwayne Roloson has become the number two goalie, struggling with six wins, a 3.72 goals against average and an .883 save percentage.

Defenseman Eric Brewer leads Tampa Bay in ice time, averaging 23:08 per game. Steven Stamkos leads in shots on goal with 118.

The Lightning have scored 88 goals (15th in the NHL) and allowed 114 goals (28th in the 30 team NHL). The Bolts special teams were awful this week. The power play success rate fell t0 14.3% (25th in the NHL) and the penalty kill slipped to 80.7% (25th in the NHL).

Box Scores

Game 33 – Tampa Bay Lightning 2 – San Jose Sharks 7

Game 34 – Tampa Bay Lightning 1 – Colorado Avalanche 2 OT

Three Stars of the Week

Martin St. Louis – One goal and one assist.

Pavel Kubina – One goal.

Dominic Moore – One goal.

Transactions

The Lightning recalled defenseman Evan Oberg and forward JT Wyman from Norfolk and then reassigned Oberg to the Admirals. This was the fifth time this month that Oberg was reassigned.

Injuries

Forward Ryan Shannon is out 2-4 weeks with a lower body injury.

Defenseman Mattias Ohlund remains on IR after undergoing surgery on both knees. Ohlund has had a major setback and his return this year is questionable.

Defenseman Matt Gilroy is day-to-day with a lower body injury.

Forward Nate Thompson is day-to-day with a lower body injury and is slated to return on Tuesday.

Bolt Notes

Tampa Bay was embarrassed by San Jose early in the week, then played well versus the Avalanche, but still lost in overtime. They have now lost 12 of their last 18 games and are eight points out of a playoff spot with five teams to jump over. A daunting task, to be certain, with 48 games left.

The Bolts remain woefully inconsistent. The defense and goaltending are struggling mightily. Injuries are hurting the blue line as the Bolts are playing with only six healthy defensemen. Five of the seven defensemen have negative +/- ratings, with Victor Hedman and Brett Clark  ”leading” the way with a -12 and a -11 rating respectively.

Many are calling for GM Steve Yzerman to “do something” to help his club, but it is very difficult to work a trade this early in the season because most teams still do not know if they are buyers or sellers yet.

The measure of an NHL GM and organization  is how they handle adversity. Last season, almost everything fell into place and it looked relatively easy to the Lightning faithful. Now that the road to the playoffs has become rocky, Yzerman and the Bolts brass have an opportunity to show their mettle.

Tampa Bay must go on a run immediately following the Christmas break. The schedule favors them as 12 of the next 18 games are on home ice.

The Week Ahead

Tampa Bay hosts Philadelphia on Tuesday, Montreal on Thursday and Carolina on Saturday.

Are you looking for The Quarterdeck Log? Ken will be back when the AHL break is over next week.

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The Bolts are in fourth place in the Southeast Division and trail the division leading Florida Panthers by ten points. Tampa Bay has fallen to 13th place in the 15 team Eastern Conference.

After 32 games, forward Steven Stamkos leads the team in goals with 20 (1st in the NHL) and points with 37. Marc-Andre Bergeron is tops in assists with 19. Stamkos leads the team in rating with a +12.

Forward Steve Downie has accumulated 72 penalty minutes and goalie Mathieu Garon has eight wins, a 2.75 goals against average and a .905 save percentage. Dwayne Roloson is still struggling with six wins, a 3.67 goals against average and an .882 save percentage.

Defenseman Victor Hedman leads Tampa Bay in ice time, averaging 23:04 per game. Steven Stamkos leads in shots on goal with 114.

The Lightning have scored 85 goals (15th in the NHL) and allowed 105 goals (28th in the 30 team NHL). The Bolts special teams numbers were a mixed bag this week. The power play improved slightly and is clicking at 15.3% (23rd in the NHL). The penalty kill slipped to a success rate of 81.2% (22nd in the NHL).

Box Scores

Game 30 – Tampa Bay Lightning 4 – New Jersey Devils 5

Game 31 – Tampa Bay Lightning 5 – Calgary Flames 4 OT

Game 32 – Tampa Bay Lightning 3 – Columbus Blue Jackets 2

Three Stars of the Week

Steven Stamkos – Four goals and three assists.

Blair Jones – Two goals, and an assist.

Dana Tyrell  – Three assists.

Transactions

The Lightning signed former Stars and Wild forward Antti Mietinen to a two year, one way contract. He was then claimed off waivers by the Winnipeg Jets.

The Lightning recalled defenseman Evan Oberg from Norfolk, returned him and then recalled him again.

Injuries

Defenseman Mattias Ohlund remains on IR after undergoing surgery on both knees. Ohlund has had a major setback and his return this year is questionable.

Forward Martin St. Louis has facial and nasal fractures from getting hit with an errant shot in warm ups. He has been cleared to start working out but remains out indefinitely.

Defenseman Matt Gilroy is day-to-day with a lower body injury.

Forward Nate Thompson is day-to-day with a lower body injury.

Bolt Notes

After losing to the Devils earlier in the week, the Bolts won two straight and added four points to their season total. This is the first time since Thanksgiving that Tampa Bay has won two straight.

Steven Stamkos is on fire. He had seven points in the three games this week (4G,3A) and looks to be taking more of a leadership role with the absence of his injured mentor Martin St. Louis.

The Week Ahead

Tampa Bay is at San Jose on Wednesday and at Colorado on Friday.

The Quarterdeck Log – Norfolk Admirals Week In Review

By Ken Peacock

About The Author

A man with an identity crisis. A full time fan of all things hockey and supporter of the AHL’s Norfolk Admirals, the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Washington Capitals. A fan of two NHL teams in the same division? Really? Yes, it can be done. It’s tough, but it can be done. I am also a full time husband, IT Professional, and a Norfolk Admirals Hockey Blogger at Vultures Row.

Weekly Log

The Norfolk Admirals opened up their week with a Friday night match at home against the Hershey Bears. The Bears dominated the Admirals for the first period and half of the second. They capitalized on two Norfolk penalties and jumped ahead with a 2-0 lead. Trevor Smith would put the Admirals on board with his 14^th goal of the season at 16:38 of the second. Hershey would answer back in the closing minutes of the second period. Norfolk would score twice in the third with goals from  Cory Conacher and Pierre-Cedric Labrie, but Hershey  scored to keep the lead and secure the win. Dustin Tokarski did not have his best night, letting in two soft goals that he should have stopped.

On Saturday the Admirals found themselves in Pennsylvaniato take on the East Division leading WB/S Penguins. The Admirals jumped out to an early lead with goals from Matt Fornataro and Carter Ashton  in the first period. The Penguins would answer back with a goal towards the end of the period and one to tie the game up at two early in the second. Tyler Johnson, Cory Conacher, and Michel Ouellet would put the Admirals ahead for good. Norfolk took their 5-2 victory and set sail for Hershey.

Norfolk was in Hershey for their second Sunday. They fell to the Bears last week and on Friday night back at the Norfolk Scope. The Admirals found themselves on the penalty kill two times to many early in the first. The Bears took advantage of the situation and put two goals up on the board. Michel Ouellet would score, but the Bears quickly regained the lead on a Chris Bourque goal with four seconds left in the first. Both teams were scoreless in the second period. The Admirals came alive and dominated the third period. The defense held the Bears scoreless while the offense lit the lamp five teams in the final period. The Admirals saw goals from J.T. Wyman, Philip-Michael Devos, Trevor Smith, Richard Panik, and Tyler Johnson. Mark Barberio is quietly racking up the point and had three assists.  Jaroslav Janus was solid in net as the Admirals coasted to a 6-3 win.

Michel Ouelette is Norfolk's first star of the week

Trevor Smith (15G 22A 37Pts +17) and Cory Conacher (18G 17A 35Pts +5) find themselves at the top of the Admirals scoring race. Mark Barberio (3G 23A 26Pts +19) leads all Norfolk defensemen in scoring and has moved ahead of forward Carter Ashton (14G 10A 24Pts +8).  Dustin Tokarski (11-7-0 2.50GAA) went 1-1 this week. Jaroslav Janus (7-4-1 3.14GAA) had a solid performance against the Bears on Sunday.

For the Season the Admirals are 18-11-3-2 with 37 points. They are currently in a three way tie for first in the East Division with the Hershey Bears and the WB/S Penguins. Evan Oberg was returned from Tampa Bay and is accumulating the air miles, but not getting any time on the ice.Norfolkis currently on a 2-0-0-0 streak and is 7-3-0-0 in their last ten games.

Three Stars of the Week

Michel Ouelette – Two goals and two assists.

Trevor Smith – Two goals and two assists

Mark Barberio – Five assists and a +6 rating.

Transactions

Evan Oberg – Returned from the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Charles Landry – Assigned to the Florida Everblades (ECHL).

J P Cote – Signed to an AHL contract.

Injuries

Richard Petiot – Undisclosed injury – Day-to-day

Kevin Quick – Lower body injury – Day-to-day

An Observation from the Stands

Playing against the Hershey Bears is never fun. For some reason the Admirals always struggle against them. The Friday night game was no exception. The Hershey Bears have one of the top rated power play and penalty kill units in the AHL. The Admirals got themselves in trouble and let the Bears power play have at them. While the offense managed to mount a comeback, their efforts were not enough to win the game. Tokarski dropped another game and allowed two soft goals. If the fans inTampaBayare looking for some help in goal I would suggest they look elsewhere, Tokarski is not ready for the NHL.

The Admirals redeemed themselves on Saturday against the Penguins. Tokarski got the start and played like a good AHL goalie; nothing fancy just a solid AHL performance. I don’t know what happened between Norfolk and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, but whatever was said or done had an impact on the team. It was a great overall performance.

In the opening period of Sunday’s game, the Admirals put forth another dismal performance. The Bears quickly jumped on the Admirals, going up 3-1. The second period was a defensive struggle with no one scoring. Then something must have clicked.Norfolkcame alive and scored five unanswered goals and took home a rare win in Hershey. Janus was solid in net and the Admirals saw more goals from the role players rather than the stars. It was a great win for the Admirals.

The Week Ahead

Norfolk will enjoy the Christmas break, as their next game will be against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers on December 28 at the Norfolk Scope.

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The Lightning are in fourth place in the Southeast Division and trail the division leading Florida Panthers by eleven points. Tampa Bay has fallen to 13th place in the 15 team Eastern Conference.

After 29 games, forward Steven Stamkos leads the team in goals with 16 (4th in the NHL) and points with 30. Marc-Andre Bergeron is tops in assists with 19. Stamkos leads the team in rating with a +8.

Forward Steve Downie has accumulated 67 penalty minutes and goalie Mathieu Garon has six wins, a 2.70 goals against average and a .909 save percentage. Dwayne Roloson has six wins, a 3.55 goals against average and an .886 save percentage.

Defenseman Victor Hedman leads Tampa Bay in ice time, averaging 23:04 per game. Steven Stamkos leads in shots on goal with 102.

The Lightning have scored 73 goals (20th in the NHL) and allowed 94 goals (27th in the NHL). The Bolts special teams numbers took a dive again this week. The power play is clicking just 14.7% (24th in the NHL) of the time. The penalty kill is successful 82.0% (18th in the NHL) of the time.

Box Scores

Game 26 – Tampa Bay Lightning 2 – Ottawa Senators 4

Game 27 – Tampa Bay Lightning 1 – New York Islanders 5

Game 28 – Tampa Bay Lightning 3 – New York Rangers 2 SO

Game 29 – Tampa Bay Lightning 2 – Philadelphia Flyers 5

Three Stars of the Week

Martin St. Louis – Two goals.

Dominic Moore – One goal, a shootout goal and an assist.

Steven Stamkos  – Three assists.

Transactions

The Lightning loaned forward Brett Connolly to Canada’s World Junior Team.

The Lightning called up newly acquired defenseman Evan Oberg and then returned him to Norfolk.

The Lightning called up forward Blair Jones.

Injuries

Defenseman Mattias Ohlund remains on IR after undergoing surgery on both knees. Ohlund has had a major setback and his return this year may be questionable.

Defenseman Pavel Kubina is day-to-day with a lower body injury.

Forward Martin St. Louis has facial and nasal fractures from getting hit with an errant shot in warm ups. He is out indefinitely.

Bolt Notes

Following a brutal, three loss week, the slumping Lightning went on a four-game road trip through Ottawa, Long Island, New York and Philadelphia. The Bolts garnered just two of a possible eight points during that trek.

Tampa Bay has now lost ten of their last 14 games, including six of their last seven.

The Lightning has only three players with a positive +/- rating. The defense has been horrific as Victor Hedman, Eric Brewer, Brett Clark and Bruno Gervais have a combined -26 rating.

The goaltending duo of Roloson and Garon had a terrible week, with a 4.00 goals against average and an .881 save percentage.

The offense remained anemic as the Bolts could only muster seven goals in four games.

Despite the awful numbers, the Bolts are just five points out of a playoff spot with 53 games to play. It may not be time to panic, but this team needs help, especially on the blue line. Without any real help in Norfolk and Mattias Ohlund suffering a setback in his rehab, look for GM Steve Yzerman to make a move to bolster the blue line.

The Week Ahead

Tampa Bay is home versus New Jersey on Monday and hosts Calgary on Thursday. They finish the week at Columbus on Saturday.

The Quarterdeck Log – Norfolk Admirals Week In Review

By Ken Peacock

About The Author

A man with an identity crisis. A full time fan of all things hockey and supporter of the AHL’s Norfolk Admirals, the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Washington Capitals. A fan of two NHL teams in the same division? Really? Yes, it can be done. It’s tough, but it can be done. I am also a full time husband, IT Professional, and a Norfolk Admirals Hockey Blogger at Vultures Row.

Weekly Log

The Norfolk Admirals wrapped up a three game road trip against division rivals Binghamton and Hershey. First up on Friday were the Senators.Norfolk struck first on Michel Ouelette first goal in his first game after a lengthy injury. The Senators would follow up with their only goal of the night to make it 1-1. The second period was all Admirals. Matt Fornataro, Mike Kostka, and Cory Conacher scored to make it 4-1. Trevor Smith sealed the victory with his goal in the third.

Saturday’s match had Trevor Smith lighting the lamp to get the scoring started. Former Admiral, Rob Klinkhammer, responded for the Senators. Cory Conacher and Trevor Johnson put the Admirals up 3-1 in the second. The Senators opened up the third, but Conacher and JT Wyman sealed the 5-2 victory forNorfolk.

Norfolk found itself inChocolate Town, Hershey,PA on Sunday. They quickly got themselves in trouble as Hershey capitalized on two Norfolk penalties. Cory Conacher would cut that lead in half, but Hershey found them on the power-play once more and scored the third power-play goal of the period. The Bears added one more goal for good measure to make it a 4-1 first period lead for the Bears. The Admirals bounced back in the second with goals from Trevor Smith and Tyler Johnson. Hershey put the clamps down in the third, stopped the Admiral offense and added two more goals to take a 6-3 victory.

Trevor Smith (13G 20A 33Pts +17) and Cory Conacher (16G 16A 32Pts +41) find themselves at the top for scoring. Carter Ashton (13G 9A 22Pts +6) follows closely behind. Cory Conacher maintains his hold as the scoring leader for all AHL rookies. Mark Barberio (3G 18A 21Pts +13) leads all Norfolk defensemen in scoring.  Dustin Tokarski (10-6-0 2.43GAA) found his 5 game winning streak snapped Sunday Night against the Bears.  Jaroslav Janus (6-4-1 3.16GAA) had a victory against Binghamton this week.

For the Season the Admirals are 14-7-3-2 with 33 points. They are currently in a three way tie for first in the East Division with the Hershey Bears and the WB/S Penguins. Evan Oberg was returned from Tampa Bay, while Blair Jones found himself recalled to the big club. Norfolk is currently on a 0-1-0-0 streak and is 6-4-0-0 in their last ten games.

Three Stars of the Week

Cory Conacher – Four goals and three assists

Tyler Johnson – Three goals and four assists.

Michel Ouelette – One goal in his return from a lengthy injury.

Transactions

Evan Oberg – Returned from the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Blair Jones – Recalled by the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Injuries

Richard Petiot – Undisclosed – Day–to-day

Kevin Quick – Lower body injury – Day-to-day

An Observation from the Stands

Playing against the division cellar dwellers is not a guaranteed win. The Admirals usually seem to have difficulty with teams that are struggling. They proved me wrong Friday and Saturday with 5-1 and 5-2 wins respectively. Granted, the Senators were not up to full strength, but a win against someone in your division is a big win. A bit of trivia … former Admirals and current Senator, Mike McKenna, has never won a game in goal against the Admirals.

Sunday had the Admirals playing the Bears. The Bears have the top power play unit in the AHL. Norfolk must have missed out on the briefing and promptly gave up three power play goals to the Bears. While they did fight back to within a goal, they caved in the third period and lost 6-2. Norfolk cannot afford to lose to Hershey. They have to solve the puzzle or they are going to find themselves out of the playoffs early. They will see Hershey two more times this upcoming week.

The Week Ahead

Norfolk returns home for a Friday night game against the Hershey Bears. Saturday and Sunday find Norfolk traveling to WB/S Penguins and the Hershey Bears.

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The Lightning are in fourth place in the Southeast Division and trail the division leading Florida Panthers by eight points. Tampa Bay has fallen to 13th place in the 15 team Eastern Conference.

After 25 games, forward Steven Stamkos leads the team in goals with 16 (2nd in the NHL) and points with 26. Marc-Andre Bergeron is tops in assists with 17. Stamkos leads the team in rating with a +7.

Forward Steve Downie has accumulated 51 penalty minutes and goalie Mathieu Garon has five wins, a 2.47 goals against average and a .916 save percentage. Dwayne Roloson has six wins, a 3.51 goals against average and an .887 save percentage.

Defenseman Eric Brewer leads Tampa Bay in ice time, averaging 22:56 per game. Steven Stamkos leads in shots on goal with 89.

The Lightning have scored 66 goals (17th in the NHL) and allowed 78 goals (23rd in the NHL). The Bolts power play suffered this week and now is clicking just 15.9% (19th in the NHL) of the time. The penalty kill is successful 83.5% (14th in the NHL) of the time.

Box Scores

Game 23 – Tampa Bay Lightning 1 – Minnesota Wild 3

Game 24 – Tampa Bay Lightning 2 – Detroit Red Wings 4

Game 25 – Tampa Bay Lightning 2 – New York Rangers 4

Three Stars of the Week

Steven Stamkos – Three goals.

Martin St. Louis – One goal.

Teddy Purcell – Two assists.

Transactions

The Lightning traded AHL forward James Wright and defenseman Mike Vernace to Florida in exchange for defensemen Mike Kostka and Evan Oberg.

Injuries

Defenseman Mattias Ohlund remains on IR after undergoing surgery on both knees. He is skating with the team while wearing the red “no contact” jersey.

Bolt Notes

The Lightning didn’t win a game this week. Tampa Bay’s defense continues to struggle, making mistakes at key times. The Bolts are 24th in the NHL in goals against (3.12) and 18th in the NHL in shots against (30.6) per game. Eric Brewer is -8, Victor Hedman is -7,  Brett Clark is -5 and Bruno Gervais is -2.

The pourous defense has now partnered with a Lightning offense that has fallen silent and that equals disaster. Tampa Bay has lost seven of its last ten games. This week, in three games, Martin St. Louis averaged only one shot on goal per game. Vincent Lecavalier has just five shots and Steven Stamkos was held without a shot on goal in Saturday nights game versus the Rangers.

This team may be in trouble and at the very least, the Bolts are the definition of inconsistent. The Lightning seem to lack emotion at times and certainly haven’t been physical enough. It doesn’t get any easier as thev team has four road games in the coming week.

The Week Ahead

Tampa Bay is at Ottawa on Monday, at the New York Islanders on Tuesday, at the New York Rangers on Thursday and at Philadelphia on Saturday.

The Quarterdeck Log – Norfolk Admirals Week In Review

By Ken Peacock

About The Author

A man with an identity crisis. A full time fan of all things hockey and supporter of the AHL’s Norfolk Admirals, the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Washington Capitals. A fan of two NHL teams in the same division? Really? Yes, it can be done. It’s tough, but it can be done. I am also a full time husband, IT Professional, and a Norfolk Admirals Hockey Blogger at Vultures Row.

Weekly Log

The Norfolk Admirals wrapped up a six game homestand with games against the WB/S Penguins and the Adirondack Phantoms.   The Admirals handed the Penguins a 5-2 loss Tuesday night at Scope.  The Pens would strike first, but Mike Angelidis would score to tie the game 1-1. Blair Jones scored early in the second, but the Pens answered back, less than a minute later. Cory Conacher added two more goals in the third and Trevor Smith sealed the victory with an empty net goal.

The Adirondack Phantoms came into town on Friday and gave it to the Admirals. Carter Ashton scored the only goal of the night for the Admirals and Norfolk mailed in the rest of the game for a 5-1 loss. Saturday night was a different story. It was a defensive battle until five minutes into the second period when Adirondack scored on the power play. Adirondack kicked up the defense and held Norfolk scoreless until the Admirals scored on a deflection off a Phantom defenseman’s leg. Tyler Johnson was trying to pass to another teammate when the puck was deflected in. Johnson would score his second of the night with 30 seconds left to seal the victory.

Cory Conacher (12G 13A 25Pts +1) and Trevor Smith (10G 15A 25Pts +12) are tied for the lead in Admirals scoring. Carter Ashton (13G 8A 21Pts +5) follows closely behind. Cory Conacher maintains his hold as the scoring leader for all AHL rookies, while Ashton has dropped to the fourth position.  Mark Barberio (3G 15A 18Pts +11) leads all Norfolk defensemen in scoring.  Dustin Tokarski (9-5-0 2.35GAA) is the hot goalie at the moment and is riding a four game winning streak.  Jaroslav Janus (5-4-1 3.27GAA) took the loss in Friday night’s game against Adirondack.

For the Season the Admirals are 14-9-0-1 with 29 points. They are currently in a three way tie for first in the East Division with the Hershey Bears and the WB/S Penguins. Steve Yzerman and nine NHL scouts were in Norfolk on Tuesday night. James Wright and Mike Vernace were traded to Florida about an hour before the game. The other two players in the trade, Evan Oberg and Mike Kostka, reported for the Saturday game. Norfolk is currently on a 1-0-0-0 streak and is 6-4-0-0 in their last ten games.

Three Stars of the Week

Dustin Tokarski – 2 wins, stopped 31 of 34 shots.

Tyler Johnson – 2 goals, 2 assists.

Cory Conacher – 2 goals.

Transactions

James Wright – Traded to theSan Antonio Rampage (Florida)

Mike Vernace – Traded to the San Antonio Rampage (Florida)

Evan Oberg – Acquired from the San Antonio Rampage (Florida)

Mike Kostka – Acquired from the San Antonio Rampage (Florida)

Philip-Michael Devos – Recalled from the Florida Everblades (ECHL)

Injuries

Richard Petiot – Undisclosed – Day to day

Michel Ouellet – Undisclosed –Day to day

Kevin Quick – Lower body injury – Day to day

An Observation from the Stands

Goalie Dustin Tokarski sparkled this week

Tuesday night’s game against the WB/S Penguins was a must win for the Admirals. I would have to say every game against the Penguins is a must win. Cory Conacher had two goals and Blair Jones had one goal. Both of these guys are on a mission. Conacher, a Norfolk signee, is showing his skills and proving that he deserves a NHL contract. Jones is showing that he has what it takes to get back to the NHL. These guys are fun to watch and their play in this game was no exception. Mike Angelidis, and Trevor Smith also added goals in the win. Dustin Tokarski was stellar in net.

Friday night was not a night to be an Admirals fan. The team lost James Wright and Mike Vernace in a trade to Florida and lost the game on the ice to the Adirondack Phantoms. Carter Ashton scored the lone Admiral goal of the night in the first period. The Admirals mailed in the rest of the game as the Phantoms went on to win 5-1. This was one of the worst performances I have seen this year. To make matters worse, they played really bad in front of Steve Yzerman and nine NHL scouts.

Saturday night was exactly what I expected. The game was tight and a defensive match. Labrie and Sestito got back together to settle their differences from the previous night. Nothing major and I would call their fight a draw. Adirondack scored first, but Tyler Johnson sealed the win for the Admirals with two goals in the third period. The animosity from Friday night carried over into this game as well. After the buzzer all the players grabbed a partner and either fought or wrestled. Admiral’s goalie, Dustin Tokarski, decided to do both. After order was restored the Admirals skated back to their bench with smiles on their faces. The look on Tokarski’s face was priceless as he was congratulated for his pugilistic skills…..oops I mean his stellar performance in net.

The Week Ahead

Norfolk hits the road for a pair of games inBinghamtonagainst the Senators. They finish the road trip on Sunday against the Hershey Bears.

Follow WB Philp on Twitter @LightningShout and “Like” Hockey Independent Lightning on Facebook.

Follow Ken Peacock on Twitter @VBKen.

Hedman will be a big part of the Bolts future success

The Tampa Bay Lightning have reportedly signed defenseman Victor Hedman to an estimated five year contract extension, worth an estimated $4 million per year. The 6’6″, 20 year old defenseman has become a blue line mainstay in his short career with the Bolts. He has nine goals, 39 assists and has averaged over 21 minutes of ice time per game in 173 games with Tampa Bay.

Hedman was drafted second overall in the 2009 Entry Draft and was scheduled to become a restricted free agent at the end of the season.

By extending Hedman, the Bolts organization continues to show their commitment to a successful future. This signing, on the heals of re-signing superstar Steven Stamkos, gives Tampa Bay two big pieces in their quest for the Stanley Cup.

*Victor Hedman photograph courtesy of Susan Ferlita. 

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The Lightning are in third place in the Southeast Division four point behind the Florida Panthers and 10th in the Eastern Conference.

After 22 games, forward Steven Stamkos leads the team in goals with 14 (2nd in the NHL) and points with 24. Marc-Andre Bergeron is tops in assists with 16. Stamkos leads the team in rating with a +8.

Forward Steve Downie has accumulated 49 penalty minutes (5th in the NHL) and goalie Mathieu Garon has five wins, a 2.46 goals against average and a .916 save percentage. Dwayne Roloson has six wins, a 3.46 goals against average and an .887 save percentage.

Defenseman Eric Brewer leads Tampa Bay in ice time, averaging 23:06 per game. Steven Stamkos leads in shots on goal with 86.

The Lightning have scored 62 goals (14th in the NHL) and allowed 69 goals 921st in the NHL). The Bolts power play was a little better this week and now is clicking 16.05% (17th in the NHL) of the time, down from 19.05% just six games ago. The penalty kill is successful 82.98% (15th in the NHL) of the time, slightly below the league average of 83.04%.

Box Scores

Game 20 – Tampa Bay Lightning 1 – Toronto Maple Leafs 7

Game 21 – Tampa Bay Lightning 2 – Florida Panthers 1 OT

Game 22 – Tampa Bay Lightning 5 – Florida Panthers 1

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Three Stars of the Week

Steven Stamkos – Three goals and and two assists.

Martin St. Louis – One goal and two assists.

Vincent Lecavalier – Two goals.

Transactions

Forward Blair Jones was placed on waivers, cleared and was sent to Norfolk.

Forward Dana Tyrell was recalled from Norfolk and signed a two year, $1.2 million, one way contract with the Lightning. The former second-round pick in 2007 was in the final year of an entry level contract that paid a base salary of $650,000. He would have been a restricted free agent at the end of the season.

Injuries

Defenseman Mattias Ohlund remains on IR after undergoing surgery on both knees. He is skating with the team while wearing the red “no contact” jersey.

Forward Steve Downie is day-to-day with an upper body injury. He skated with the team Monday for the first time since suffering an undisclosed upper body injury on Tuesday against Toronto. Downie has been able to workout off the ice all week.

Bolt Notes

The Lightning earned four of a possible six points this week. Tampa Bay’s defense continues to struggle, especially five-on-five. In that situation they have given up 46 goals (24th in the NHL). The Bolts are 22nd in the NHL in goals against (3.04) and 19th in the NHL in shots against (30.5) per game. Brett Clark is -5, Eric Brewer is -5, Victor Hedman is -3 and Bruno Gervais is -2.

With the DNA line reunited, Bolts look more like last seasons Cup contenders

After being blown out by Toronto on Tuesday, the Bolts brass found it’s scapegoat in Blair Jones and sent him down to Norfolk and called up Dana Tyrell. Certainly, Jones is not to blame for the Bolts defensive woes, but a shakeup was due for this underachieving team. The move seemed to awaken Tampa Bay as they played two solid games against the Panthers, looking much like the forechecking, first to the puck squad of last season.

Tyrell played alongside his DNA line partners, Nate Thompson and Adam Hall and provided a spark that led the Bolts to their first back-to-back wins since November 9th.

The Week Ahead

Tampa Bay is at Minnesota on Monday, at Detroit on Wednesday and home vs. the New York Rangers on Saturday.

*DNA line photograph courtesy of Susan Ferlita.*

The Quarterdeck Log – Norfolk Admirals Week In Review

By Ken Peacock

About The Author

A man with an identity crisis. A full time fan of all things hockey and supporter of the AHL’s Norfolk Admirals, the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Washington Capitals. A fan of two NHL teams in the same division? Really? Yes, it can be done. It’s tough, but it can be done. I am also a full time husband, IT Professional, and a Norfolk Admirals Hockey Blogger at Vultures Row.

Weekly Log

The Norfolk Admirals kicked off a six game homestand with a Thanksgiving Eve match against the Charlotte Checkers.  What started off as typical Admirals and Checkers game quickly ended in the third period. At the end of two the teams were tied at three goals each. In the third, Cory Conacher gave the Admirals a 4-1 lead, butCharlotte would storm back with three unanswered goals.Norfolk could not figure out how to score a goal and appeared to not even try.

The Providence Bruins came into town for a two game weekend series. Norfolkhad already taken two games up north and wanted to take the two games down here as well. The Friday night game marked the return of Admiral Fan favorite, Blair Jones. His presence on the ice was immediately felt as he scored the first goal of the night. The Admirals  scored early and often with goals from Ondrej Palat, Pierre-Cedric Labrie, Radko Gudas, and J.T. Wyman. Providence was held to one goal in the 5-1 victory.

Saturday night’s game was a little tighter, but the outcome was the same.  Pierre-Cedric Labrie, Richard Panik, and James Wright scored for the Admirals and Dustin Tokarski won his second game in as many nights.Norfolkheld the Bruins to two goals and 28 shots in the 3-2 victory.

Cory Conacher (10G 13A 23Pts +1) and Trevor Smith (9G 13A 22Pts +12) lead the Admirals in scoring. Conacher maintains his hold as the scoring leader for all AHL rookies.  Mark Barberio (3G 13A 16Pts +10) leads the defense. Dustin Tokarski (7-5-0 2.49GAA) appeared in two of the three games this week winning both games. Jaroslav Janus (5-3-1 3.18GAA) took the loss Wednesday night againstCharlotte.

For the Season the Admirals are 12-8-0-1 with 25 points. They are currently second in the East Division and trail the WB/S Penguins by two points. Lightning prospect James Wright broke out of his scoring drought with his first goal of the season Sunday night.Norfolk is currently on a 2-0-0-0 streak and is 5-5-0-0 in their last ten games.

Three Stars of the Week

Dustin Tokarski – Two wins, stopped 43 of 46 shots.

Pierre-Cedric Labrie  – Two goals and an assist.

Blair Jones  – A goal, 10 SOG and lots of ice time.

Transactions

Dana Tyrell – Recalled by Tampa Bay

Blair Jones – Assigned by Tampa Bay

Injuries

Richard Petiot – Undisclosed – Day to day

Michel Ouellet – Undisclosed –Day to day

Kevin Quick – Lower Body Injury – Day to day

An Observation from the Stands

The Charlotte game on Wednesday was a disappointment. It seems that the Admirals always have a tough time against the Checkers. This game was no exception. The Checkers took the wind out of the Admirals sails and the Norfolk did nothing to fight back. It was like they were in a hurry to get to their Thanksgiving meal.

On Friday and Saturday it was all Admirals. Already two games up on the Bruins in the season series, the Admirals were determined to finish them off. Blair Jones received a warm welcome back to Scope. Jones who usually wore number 9 appeared on the ice with number 19. I guess Alexandre Picard did not want to return the number or was never asked. Jones logged plenty of ice time and did his part to keep the Bruins on their toes. Saturday night saw the end of James Wright’s scoring drought as he netted his first of the season. Ondrej Palat stepped up his game with a goal and two assists over the last two games. Overall this was a good week for the Admirals. Tokarski played well in both games, making some spectacular saves. Norfolk has not been relying on the Conacher, Smith, and Carter line for all of its goals. It’s nice to see players like Labrie, Panik, Gudas, and Palat getting in on the action as well.

The Week Ahead

The East Division leading WB/S Penguins come in for a Tuesday night game. Friday and Saturday has the Philadelphia Flyers farm team, Adirondack Phantoms, coming to town.

Follow WB Philp on Twitter @LightningShout and “Like” Hockey Independent Lightning on Facebook.

Follow Ken Peacock on Twitter @VBKen.

The Lightning are in third place in the Southeast Division three points behind the Florida Panthers and 12th in the Eastern Conference.

After 19 games, forward Steven Stamkos leads the team in goals with 11 and points with 19. Marc-Andre Bergeron is tops in assists with 14. Martin St. Louis, leads the team in rating with a +9.

Forward Steve Downie has accumulated 49 penalty minutes (4th in the NHL)  and goalie Mathieu Garon has three wins, a 2.80 goals against average and a .909 save percentage. Dwayne Roloson has six wins, a 3.16 goals against average and an .898 save percentage.

Defenseman Victor Hedman leads Tampa Bay in ice time, averaging 22:42 per game. Steven Stamkos leads in shots on goal with 71.

The Lightning have scored 53 goals and allowed 58 goals. The Bolts power play was awful this week and now is clicking only 15.28% (21st in the NHL) of the time, down from 19.05% just three games ago. The penalty kill is successful 82.50% (15th in the NHL) of the time, just below the league average of 82.53%.

Box Scores

Game 17 – Tampa Bay Lightning 2 – Winnipeg Jets 5

Game 18 – Tampa Bay Lightning 4 – Pittsburgh Penguins 1

Game 19 – Tampa Bay Lightning 2 – New Jersey Devils 4

Three Stars of the Week

Vincent Lecavalier – Two goals and an assist.

Steven Stamkos – One goal and two assists.

Martin St. Louis – Two goals.

Transactions

No team transactions this week.

Injuries

Defenseman Mattias Ohlund remains on IR after undergoing surgery on both knees. He is skating with the team while wearing the red “no contact” jersey. His return is still a couple of weeks away.

Defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron may miss Tuesday’s game with a lower body injury.

Bolt Notes

The Lightning earned two of a possible six points this week. Tampa Bay’s defense has been nothing short of horrible, especially five-on-five. In that situation they have given up 41 goals (26th in the NHL). The Bolts are 21st in the NHL in goals against (3.05)  and shots against (31.3) per game. Brett Clark is -6, Eric Brewer is -5, Bruno Gervais is -2, Victor Hedman and Pavel Kubina are -1. Marc-Andre Bergeron and Matt Gilroy are the only defensemen that have a positive +/-. If this keeps up, with no real help in Norfolk, look for Yzerman to make an Eric Breweresque type move, just as he did last season.

The Week Ahead

Tampa Bay is home vs. Toronto on Tuesday, at Florida on Friday and home vs. Florida on Saturday.

The Quarterdeck Log – Norfolk Admirals Week In Review

By Ken Peacock

About the Author

A man with an identity crisis. A full time fan of all things hockey, fan of the AHL’s Norfolk Admirals, the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Washington Capitals. A fan of two NHL teams in the same division? Really? Yes, it can be done. It’s tough, but it can be done. Ken is also a full time husband, IT Professional, and a Norfolk Admirals Hockey Blogger at Vultures Row.

Weekly Log

The St. John’s IceCaps played host to the Admirals this weekend at the Mile One Centre. The Atlantic Division leading IceCaps last played host to Norfolk during training camp and the preseason. Friday night’s game was all Admirals as the offense came alive with a 6-2 victory.  Tyler Johnson and Trevor Smith led the Admirals in scoring with two goals each. Mike Angelidis and Carter Ashton contributed one each. Cory Conacher assisted on three of the goals and was a +2 for the night. Jaroslav Janus stopped 26 of 28 in the win. St. John’s turned the tables on the Admirals Saturday night. They jumped to an early two goal lead and shut Norfolk down. Cory Conacher was the only Admiral to add any points to his stats. Conacher’s goal in the second period was the only sign of life in the Admirals offense. Dustin Tokarski stopped 22 of 25 in the Admiral loss.

Cory Conacher (9G 13A 22Pts +1) and Trevor Smith (8G 12A 20Pts +12) lead the Admirals in scoring. Carter Ashton (12G 7A 19Pts +4) has been rather quiet, but rounds out the top three in scoring.   Mark Barberio (3G 13A 16Pts +11) leads the defense. Dustin Tokarski (5-5-0 2.70 GAA) and Jaroslav Janus (5-2-1 2.85 GAA) continue to rotate in goal.

For the season, the Admirals are 10-7-0-1 with 21 points. They are second in the East Division and trail the WB/S Penguins by 3 points. Cory Conacher and Carter Ashton have led the AHL in rookie scoring since the beginning of the season.Norfolk is currently on a 0-1-0-0 streak and is 5-5-0-0 in their last ten games.

Three Stars of the Week

Cory Conacher – One goal and three assists.

Tyler Johnson – Two goals and an assist.

Trevor Smith – Two goals.

Transactions

Jean-Philippe Cote – Signed to a Professional tryout contract.

Injuries

Richard Petiot – Undisclosed – Day to day

Michel Ouellet – Undisclosed –Day to day

Kevin Quick – Lower body injury – Day to day

An Observation from the Stands

Norfolk had great success in the preseason against St. John’s, but you can only take that success with a grain of salt. The IceCaps are the hottest team in the AHL right now. The Admirals were lucky to split the two games this weekend. The offense came alive on Friday, but looked like they took a late night trip to Tim Horton’s before the Saturday night match. If the Admirals seriously want to contend this year,  they will need to be consistent every night. Playing good one night and then mailing the game in the next is what they did last year. While they managed to make the playoffs, they were consistent in doing what they had done in previous seasons…….bowing out in the first round. The season is still early and there is no need to worry (yet), but sixty minutes every night is what we need from the offense and the defense.

The Week Ahead

Norfolk returns home for a six game homestand. The Charlotte Checkers come into town Wednesday for a Thanksgiving eve match up. Providence then comes to town for games on Friday and Saturday.

Follow WB Philp on Twitter @LightningShout and “Like” Hockey Independent Lightning on Facebook.

Follow Ken Peacock on Twitter @VBKen.

The Lightning are in third place in the Southeast Division three points behind the Washington Capitals and eighth in the Eastern Conference.

After 16 games, forward Steven Stamkos leads the team in goals with ten. and defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron leads in assists with 13 and is tied with Stamkos in points with 16. Matt Gilroy leads the team in rating with a +6.

Forward Steve Downie has accumulated 47 penalty minutes and goalie Mathieu Garon has three wins, a 2.84 goals against average and a .907 save percentage.

Defenseman Victor Hedman leads Tampa Bay in ice time, averaging 23:18 per game. Steven Stamkos leads in shots on goal with 59.

The Lightning have scored 46 goals and allowed 50 goals. The power play took a dip this week going from a 19.05% success rate to a below league average 16.67% The penalty kill is successful 82.54% of the time, just below the league average of 82.73%.

Box Scores

Game 15 – Tampa Bay Lightning 2 – Philadelphia Flyers 1 OT

Game 16 – Tampa Bay Lightning 0 – St. Louis Blues 3

Three Stars of the Week

Marc-Andre Bergeron – One goal.

Brett Connolly – One goal.

Dominic Moore – One assist.

Transactions

No team transactions this week.

Injuries

Defenseman Mattias Ohlund remains on IR after undergoing surgery on both knees. He is out indefinitely.

Forward Ryan Malone is day to day with an upper body injury and should be back this week.

Defenseman Victor Hedman is day-to-day and will return this week, probably Monday.

Bolt Notes

The Lightning earned just one  of a possible four points this week. St. Louis showed all the NHL how to beat the 1-3-1 trap by using speed. The Bolts injured defense was exposed against the Blues. Victor Hedman should return on Monday night and that will help the Bolts. If the defense doesn’t get better, quickly, don’t be surprised if the Lightning make a move to inprove its blue line.

The Week Ahead

Tampa Bay is at Winnipeg on Monday, home vs. Pittsburgh on Thursday and home vs. New Jersey on Saturday.

The Quarterdeck Log – Norfolk Admirals Week In Review

By Ken Peacock

About The Author

A man with an identity crisis. A full time fan of all things hockey and supporter of the AHL’s Norfolk Admirals, the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Washington Capitals. A fan of two NHL teams in the same division? Really? Yes, it can be done. It’s tough, but it can be done. I am also a full time husband, IT Professional, and a Norfolk Admirals Hockey Blogger at Vultures Row.

Weekly Log

The Norfolk Admirals had a brief stop home at the Scope Arena for a Wednesday night matchup against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (Pittsburgh). Unfortunately it was not a good night for the Admirals as the offense was shut down and the Penguins outplayed them, handing them a 4-2 loss. Next up was a Friday night game inAlbany against the Devils. Once again,Norfolk found themselves on the losing end as the Devils went home with the 2-1 win. Early Saturday morning the Admirals bus pulled into the Mohegan Sun Arena for a rematch with the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins. The Penguins jumped to 3-1 lead before the Admirals offense finally clicked and came back with four unanswered goals and a Norfolk Victory.

Conacher is the player of the week

Cory Conacher (8G 10A 18Pts -2) and Carter Ashton  (11G 6A 16Pts +3) lead the Admirals in scoring. They also hold the top two spots for AHL rookies and are fifth and sixth overall among all AHL skaters.   Mark Barberio (3G 9A 12Pts +9) leads the defense. Barberio has stepped his game up and is on course to exceed his statistics from last season.  Dustin Tokarski (5-4-0 2.65GAA) appeared in two of the three games this weekend, stopping 45 of 51 shots. Tokarski went 1-1 vs. the WB/S Penguins this weekend. Jaroslav Janus (4-2-1 2.96GAA) took the loss Friday night in Albany.

For the Season the Admirals are 9-6-0-1 with 19 points. They dropped from the top spot in the East Division and trail the WB/S Penguins by a point. Cory Conacher and Carter Ashton have led the AHL in rookie scoring since the beginning of the season. Norfolk is currently on a 1-0-0-0 streak and are 5-5-0-0 in their last ten games.

Three Stars of the Week

Cory Conacher – Four Goals in three games.

Mark Barberio  – One goal, an assist, and a fighting major.

Radko Gudas – One shorthanded Goal

Transactions

Mattias Ritola – Released from his contract by Tampa Bay

Injuries

Richard Petiot – Undisclosed – Day-to-day

Michel Ouellet – Undisclosed –Day-to-day

Kevin Quick – Lower body injury – Day-to-day

An Observation from the Stands

The Wilkes-Barr/Scranton Penguins made their first appearance back at Scope after knocking the Admirals out of the playoffs last season. We had hoped that the Admirals would come out and take control of the game and send a message to the Penguins that this season would be different. Unfortunately the Penguins did not get that message. The Penguins outplayed the Admirals and capitalized on the Admiral defensive breakdowns and caught Tokarski out of net for an easy wrap around goal. The game in Albany was a bit better, but the offense was not clicking. Albany earned its second victory of the season against the Admirals. It looks like Albany may be a thorn in the Admirals side this season.

If the Admirals had another chance to send a message on Saturday in the Penguins own barn. The Penguins jumped to the 3-1 lead. After a heavyweight fight between the Admiral’s Eric Neilson of and Steve MacIntyre, the message got through lou8d and clear. The Admirals shut down the Pens with four unanswered goals. If Norfolk wants to continue to be successful against the Penguins they are going to have to solve the problem of goalie Brad Thiessen. In my opinion he was the one who stopped the Admirals last season and he will be the one to do it again this year.

The Week Ahead

Norfolk travels to St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador for a Friday and Saturday night series against the Ice Caps (Winnipeg). The Admirals held training camp and played a three game pre-season series against the Ice Caps taking 2 of the 3 games.

Follow WB Philp on Twitter @LightningShout and “Like” Hockey Independent Lightning on Facebook.

Follow Ken Peacock on Twitter @VBKen.

There Boucher goes again...thinking

By now, just about every fan of hockey knows what the 1-3-1 trap is and that the Tampa Bay Lightning used it effectively enough Wednesday night to cause the Philadelphia Flyers to employ a stall tactic of holding and not advancing the puck. In fact, the referees blew the play dead and forced two faceoffs in the Flyers zone. Eventually the Lightning won the game 2-1 in overtime.

After the game, fans, players and media all began debating who to blame for this NHL “atrocity” that had just played out on National TV…Versus is on National TV, isn’t it?

For the record, in my opinion, there is no question that the burden was on the Flyers to move the puck. After all. They possessed the puck and were the attacking team.

That being said, I certainly understand the fans not liking Tampa Bay’ coach Guy Boucher’s strategy. It is BORING and not the up-tempo style of play the NHL has forced its members to play since the lockout.

Agreed. It’s a system that will cause you to become a drooling Zombie in the first period and awaken in the third period with the imprint of your keyboard on your forehead, but I’m fairly certain that every player and fan of the Lightning, if given the choice of running and gunning to a ninth place finish or keeping a pillow close by during the 1-3-1 dominated games and getting to the Cup Final, will take the latter.

The Bolts defense has been putrid over the last two seasons. Coach Boucher knows the cards he has been dealt and instead of folding, has decided to do something that is foreign to most of the NHL coaching community…THINKING and EMPLOYING A STRATEGY!

I have mad respect for Guy Boucher’s figuring out a way to slow down the highest scoring team in the NHL despite missing two of his top four defensemen. (Victor Hedman and Mattias Ohlund) Even if you don’t like the style of play, how can you disrespect a coach who finds a way to win? Isn’t that his job?

Boucher has employed the 1-3-1 system since he came into the NHL. Did no one watch the Lightning’s sweep of the Capitals last year? Where was all the uproar during that series?

And I don’t want to hear anything about a trap system that embarrasses the NHL from you Detroit and New Jersey fans. Unless, of course, you want to give back your cheesy little fake souvenir Stanley Cups.

For those of you that have completely lost your minds and your ability to reason, who think the league should immediately jump in and create an “Avery Rule” of some sort to stop this “embarrassing” type of play…Stop “should-ing” all over yourself. It ‘aint gonna happen.

When all is said and done, Boucher and the Lightning are beyond reproach. They did what they are paid to do…WIN. They broke no rules nor did they disrespect or embarrass the game of hockey.

What are your thoughts puckheads?

Follow me on Twitter @LightningShout and “Like” Hockey Independent Lightning on Facebook.

The Lightning are in second place in the Southeast Division two points behind the Washington Capitals and seventh in the Eastern Conference.

After 14 games, forward Steven Stamkos leads the team and the NHL in goals with ten. and defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron leads in assists with 13 and points with 15. Stamkos, Martin St. Louis, Vincent Lecavalier and Matt Gilroy all lead the team in rating with a +6.

Forward Steve Downie has accumulated 42 penalty minutes and goalie Mathieu Garon has three wins, a 2.81 goals against average and a .911 save percentage. Dwayne Roloson had a stellar week with a 2.67 goals against average, stopping 84 of 92 shots (.913 save percentage) and two wins.

Defenseman Victor Hedman leads Tampa Bay in ice time, averaging 23:18 per game. Steven Stamkos leads in shots on goal with 54.

Matt Gilroy had a breakout week and now leads the defensive corps with a +6 rating.

The Lightning have scored 44 goals and allowed 46 goals. The power play is much improved and now is clicking 19.05% of the time. (6th in the east) The penalty kill is successful 81.82% of the time, just below the league average of 82.63%.

Box Scores

Game 12 – Tampa Bay Lightning 2 – Carolina Hurricanes 4

Game 13 – Tampa Bay Lightning 5 – Chicago Blackhawks 4 OT

Game 14 – Tampa Bay Lightning 4 – Florida Panthers 3 SO

Three Stars of the Week

Steven Stamkos – Four goals and an assist.

Martin St. Louis – Five assists.

Ryan Malone – One goal and three assists.

Transactions

Forward Mattias Ritola was placed on waivers, cleared and was re-assigned to Norfolk of the AHL.

Injuries

Defenseman Mattias Ohlund remains on IR after undergoing surgery on both knees. He is out indefinitely.

Forward Ryan Malone is day to day with an upper body injury.

Bolt Notes

The Lightning earned four of a possible six points this week. Goalie Dwayne Roloson has found his groove again, as evidenced by his stopping of all 29 shots he faced in the relief win versus the Panthers on Sunday. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, “The oldest active player in the NHL, 42-year-old goaltender Dwayne Roloson, came off the bench with the Lightning trailing 3-0 in the first period and blanked the Panthers the rest of the way. Tampa Bay rallied for 4-3 shootout win over their intrastate rival, and Roloson earned the victory by stopping all 29 shots he faced in regulation time and overtime, and going unscored upon in four shootout attempts by Florida. It’s the third time since the NHL began using shootouts to decide a winner in games tied at the end of overtime that a goaltender has won a game in relief via a shootout while playing at least 40 minutes and not allowing a goal in the “traditional” portion of the game and also in the tiebreaker itself. The other substitute goaltenders to post such a win are the Capitals’ Braden Holtby (March 7 last season at Tampa Bay) and the Devils’ Johan Hedberg (October 13 this season vs. Los Angeles).”

Defenseman Matt Gilroy looks solid and seems to be fitting in quite well after a rough start.

The Week Ahead

Tampa Bay hosts Philadelphia on Wednesday and travels to St. Louis on  on Saturday.

The Quarterdeck Log – Norfolk Admirals Week In Review

By Ken Peacock

About the Author

A man with an identity crisis. A full time fan of all things hockey, fan of the AHL’s Norfolk Admirals, the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Washington Capitals. A fan of two NHL teams in the same division? Really? Yes, it can be done. It’s tough, but it can be done. Ken is also a full time husband, IT Professional, and a Norfolk Admirals Hockey Blogger at Vultures Row.

Weekly Log

The Norfolk Admirals returned to the road after a brief trip back to Norfolk. A long bus ride took the team to Albany to kick off a three games in three night’s weekend. Norfolk ran into a brick wall and was shutout by the Devils 1-0. Next up, they traveled to Bridgeport to take on the Sound Tigers. The Islanders affiliate proved to be the better team and skated to a 3-2 victory. Sunday saw a return trip to Providence for an afternoon match against the Bruins. Norfolk jumped out to an early two goal lead and Dustin Tokarski was perfect in net. The Admirals finished the night with a 3-0 win and finished the road trip with a 4-3-0-0 record.

Ashton is the best AHL rookie

Offensively the Admirals were led by Carter Ashton. Ashton (11G 5A 16Pts +3) holds the top position for rookies in the AHL. Trevor Smith (6G 9A 15Pts +11) and Cory Conacher (4G 10A 14Pts 0 +/-) followed closely behind.  Mark Barberio (2G 9A 11Pts +9) led the defense. Barberio did not play the first two games this weekend due to an arm injury that ocurred in practice earlier in the week. He returned for the Providence game. Scott Jackson has taken his place on the blue line. Dustin Tokarski (4-3-0 2.54 GAA) appeared in two of the three games this weekend stopping 57 of 58 shots and getting the shutout in Providence. Jaroslav Janus (4-1-1 3.10 GAA) played Saturday against Bridgeport and took the loss.

For the Season the Admirals are 8-4-0-1 with 17 points. They continue to hold the league lead in goals scored with 51. The Admirals goals for and have allowed 38 goals. Carter Ashton and Cory Conacher hold the top two spots in scoring for all AHL rookies. Ashton is third overall in the AHL in scoring. The Admirals will face a true test on Wednesday night when they host their division rival the WB/S Penguins.

Three Stars of the Week

Carter Ashton – Two goals, one assist, +2 and seven shots on net.

Dustin Tokarski – 1W-1L, stopping 57 of 58 shots and shutting out Providence.

Pierre-Cedric Labrie – One goal, two assists, +2 and eight shots on net.

Transactions

Mattias Ritola – Assigned by Tampa Bay

Injuries

Richard Petiot – Undisclosed – Day To Day

Michel Ouellet – Undisclosed –Day To Day

An Observation From the Stands

Last week I was a little critical of the Admirals defense and goalie, Dustin Tokarski. This week they proved me wrong. Friday night’s game was a defensive battle and Tokarski was doing everything he had to do to get a win. Unfortunately the Devils played the better game. In Bridgeport the offense and defense seemed to have had everything clicking. The game went both ways, but once the Sound Tigers took the lead in the third, the Admirals offense was shut down once more.

Sunday was the day for the Admirals. Making their final appearance of the season in Providence we saw the offense, defense working together. Dustin Tokarski was perfect in net, making some great saves and shutting the Bruins down. This was a great game to watch, and not just because the Admirals one. This was not the Carter Ashton show. While Ashton did get a goal, we also saw the rest of the offense get in the action that resulted in goals from Labrie and Angelidis. Three games in three nights on the road is not an easy task. If the Admirals were tired, they sure didn’t show it.

The Week Ahead

Norfolk returns home for a Wednesday night game against the Wilkes –Barre/Scranton Penguins (Pittsburgh). After that they are back on the road on Friday at the Albany Devils (New Jersey), and Saturday at the WB/S Penguins (Pittsburgh).

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Follow Ken Peacock on Twitter @VBKen.

The Lightning are in third place in the Southeast Division, tied with Florida, two points behind the Washington Capitals and seventh in the Eastern Conference.

After eleven games, forward Steven Stamkos leads the team in goals with six. and defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron leads in assists with 10 and points with 12. Stamkos also leads the team in rating with a +5.

Forward Steve Downie has accumulated 42 penalty minutes and goalie Mathieu Garon has three wins, a 2.43 goals against average and a .921 save percentage

Defenseman Victor Hedman leads Tampa Bay in ice time, averaging 23:05 per game. Steven Stamkos leads in shots on goal with 39.

Hedman leads the defensive corps with a +3 rating.

The Lightning have scored 33 goals and allowed 35 goals. The power play is still struggling, scoring 16.70% of the time (9th in the east) and the penalty kill is successful 85.7% of the time (6th in the east).

The Bolts scoring attack remains balanced as 14 players have netted goals and 20 players have at least one point in eleven games.

Box Scores

Game 9 – Tampa Bay Lightning 4 – Buffalo Sabres 3

Game 10 – Tampa Bay Lightning 3 – Nashville Predators 5

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Game 11 – Tampa Bay Lightning 1 – Winnipeg Jets 0

Three Stars of the Week

Steven Stamkos – Four assists.

Marc-Andre Bergeron – Three assists.

Vincent Lecavalier – Two goals.

The Connolly Conundrum Solved

After Tuesday nights win over the Buffalo Sabres, Tampa Bay Lightning GM Steve Yzerman wasted no time in telling everyone that he had decided to keep 19 year old rookie forward Brett Connolly with the big club.

In a text message to the media, Yzerman wrote, “We feel Brett’s shown that he belongs in the NHL and makes our team better. So, we’ve decided to keep him.”

Who will be the odd man out once defenseman Mattias Ohlund returns from injury? Right now, the top candidates to be sent to Norfolk are forwards Mattias Ritola and Blair Jones.

Transactions

No transactions made this week.

Injuries

Defenseman Mattias Ohlund remains on IR after undergoing surgery on both knees. He is out indefinitely and according to Bolts beat writer Erik Erlendsson is coming along, “A little slower than hoped.”

Summary

The Lightning earned four of a possible six points this week.

Goaltender Dwayne Roloson had a terrific week, stopping eight of eight shots versus Nashville after releiving Mathieu Garon and stopping all 28 shots he faced against Winnipeg on Saturday night to lead the Bolts to a 1-0 win.

The Bolts need to get better defensively and fix the power play. They are scoring three goals per game (5th in the NHL) and allowing three goals per game (24th in the NHL). Giving up more goals than they score with the likes of Stamkos, St. Louis and Lecavalier on the roster is simply unacceptable.

The Week Ahead

Tampa Bay plays at Carolina on Tuesday, home versus Chicago on Friday and at Florida on Sunday.

The Quarterdeck Log – Norfolk Admirals Week In Review

By Ken Peacock

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

A man with an identity crisis. A full time fan of all things hockey, fan of the AHL’s Norfolk Admirals, the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Washington Capitals. A fan of two NHL teams in the same division? Really? Yes, it can be done. It’s tough, but it can be done. Ken is also a full time husband, IT Professional, and a Norfolk Admirals Hockey Blogger at Vultures Row.

WEEKLY LOG

The Norfolk Admirals opened up the week by starting a seven game road swing that will take them from Charlotte, North Carolina all the way north to Providence, Rhode Island. After a setback in Charlotte, the Admirals bounced back with victories over Adirondack, Providence, and Syracuse. Norfolk returns home for some well-deserved rest and practice before heading to Albany for a Friday night match up with the Devils.

Offensively the Admirals were led by Carter Ashton. Ashton (9G 5A 14Pts +2) leads all rookies in scoring and is fourth overall in the AHL. Trevor Smith (5G 8A 13Pts +10) and Cory Conacher (4G 8A 12Pts 0 +/-) followed closely behind.  Mark Barberio (2G 9A 11Pts +6) leads the defense. The Admirals blue line was bolstered by the return of veteran Scott Jackson.

Goalie Dustin Tokarski (3-2-0 .864 SV%) appeared in two of the four games this week and went 1-1. Jaroslav Janus (4-0-1 .902%) played net in the other two games, winning both. While Tokarski was named the number one goalie out of training camp, Janus has proven that he can fill that position as well.

Norfolk won three of their four games this week, scoring 16 goals and allowing 11 goals. The net-minders stopped 53 of the 59 shots. The Admirals went 5 for 15 on the power play and killed off 16 of 19 penalties. So far this season the Admirals have played ten games and have a 7 – 2 – 0 – 1 record and 15 points. They are three points ahead of the WB/S Penguins and the Hershey Bears. Norfolk has scored a league high 46 goals and allowed 34 goals.

THREE STARS OF THE WEEK

Carter Ashton – Four goals and an assist.

Mark Barberio – A goal and four assists.

Jaroslav Janus – 2-0, stopping 53 of 59 shots.

TRANSACTIONS

Trevor Ludwig – Released from PTO

Scott Jackson – Assigned by Tampa Bay

Charles Landry – Assigned by Tampa Bay

INJURIES

Richard Petiot – Undisclosed – Day To Day

Michel Ouellet – Undisclosed –Day To Day

WHATS NEXT

Friday          11/4     Admirals @ Albany Devils (New Jersey Devils)

Saturday     11/5     Admirals @ Bridgeport Sound Tigers (New York Islanders)

Sunday        11/6     Admirals @ Providence Bruins (Boston Bruins)

OBSERVATION FROM THE STANDS

On paper, the Admirals are a contender. Offensively they are keeping up with those expectations. Carter Ashton is everything that the scouts said he was. He leads the Admirals and all AHL rookies in scoring. He’s not afraid to mix it up either. The Admirals rookie line of Conacher, Ashton and Johnson have been great.

On the other hand, the defense needs work. The return of Scott Jackson will help bolster the blue line and end the numerous defensive failures that have led to turnovers and goals.

The goaltending tandem of Tokarski and Janus has been solid. Tokarski was the clear number one goalie at the beginning of the season, but Janus is now competing for the starting job. Tic (Tokarski) needs to shake off the cobwebs and step his game up if he wants to hold on to the top slot.

While the Admirals are tasting success early on, the big test comes when the WB/S Penguins visit the Scope on November 9. The Penguins eliminated Norfolk from the Calder Cup playoffs last season.

Follow WB Philp on Twitter @LightningShout and “Like” Hockey Independent Lightning on Facebook.

Follow Ken Peacock on Twitter @VBKen.

Each month we will update you on the relevant news and notes of all five Southeast Division teams.

Washington Capitals – 7-1-0 – 14 points

Check out the Caps season preview, “Game On:  Back to Hockey” – Read the full story here.

The Caps started fast and you can get all the details in, “Ice Chips:  Off on the Right Foot” – Read the full story here.

Are the Caps a one line show? – Read the full story here.

Who would the Caps players call if they were thrown in jail? – Watch it here.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Florida Panthers – 5-4-0 – 10 points

Hockey Independent’s Rudi Genovese gives you a season preview of the new look Florida Panthers in his post, “Here We Go.” – Read the full story here.

Genovese also discusses the Panthers strong start. – Read the full story here.

How long it will take for the Florida Panthers to play as a team after acquiring 12 new players? Find the answer in “How Long For the Team to Gel?” – Read the full story here.

The Panthers have already made a big trade. – Read the full story here.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Tampa Bay Lightning – 4-4-2 – 10 points

Hockey Independent gets you ready for the Lightning season with the season preview, “Master Chef Yzerman is Whipping up a Winner.” – Read the full story here.

HI also questions Bolts coach Guy Boucher’s decision making in. “Did Boucher Outsmart Himself and Cost the Bolts a Point?” – Read the full story here.

The Bolts decided to keep rookie Brett Connolly. Was it the right decision? – Read the full story here.

You can also follow the Lightning in Hockey Independent’s “Tampa Bay Lightning Week in Review” series. – Read the latest weekly review here.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Carolina Hurricanes – 4-3-3 – 11 points

The ‘Canes special teams are clicking. – Read the full story here.

Although he didn’t make the team out of training camp, Brett Sutter is back in Carolina now. – Read the full story here.

For the Hurricanes, a six-day, three-game road swing produced a 1-1-1 record. There were good moments and bad on the ice. – Read the full story here.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Winnipeg Jets – 3-5-1 – 7 points

Now that Mark Scheifele has been sent down, do the Jets need to replace him? – Read the full story here.

Tempers flare between the Jets and Shaw Cable. – Read the full story here.

Jets assistant coach is flying high with his new team. – Read the full story here.

Winnipeg fans still on cloud nine. – Read the full story here.

Click here to view the embedded video.

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In a text message to the media, Yzerman wrote, “We feel Brett’s shown that he belongs in the NHL and makes our team better. So, we’ve decided to keep him.”

Yzerman had until tomorrow nights game against Nashville (Connolly’s tenth) to determine the 2010 first round picks immediate future. Because of his young age, the Bolts had to either keep him on the NHL roster or send him back to his Prince George, WHL, junior team.

Connolly has been serving his apprenticeship alongside grizzled veteran stars Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis. In nine games he leads the Bolts with a +5 rating, has two assists and is averaging 13:54 in ice time per game. The statistics certainly don’t tell the whole story. Connolly has shown a high hockey I.Q. and a keen sense of positioning. Despite needing to get stronger, he has also started to play more physical of late.

Make no mistake, this was a difficult and well thought out decision by the Lightning brass. Yzerman comes from the Detroit Red Wings organization that consistently remains ultra conservative in their handling of prospects, keeping them in the minors until they are overly ready for the rigors of an 82 game NHL season. But Yzerman knows that Connolly is a pure offensive talent who can make plays at a high rate of speed and help this team now Stevie likes snipers and Connolly is that. Last season in juniors he scored 46 goals and accumulated 73 points in just 59 games.

This is a good move for Tampa Bay, one that wouldn’t have materialized without the likes of Lecavalier and St. Louis onboard to guide Connolly every step of the way on his maiden voyage into NHL waters.

*Bottom Connolly photograph courtesy of Susan Ferlita.

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The Lightning are in third place in the Southeast Division, six points behind the Washington Capitals and seventh in the Eastern Conference.

After eight games, forward Martin St. Louis leads the team in goals with three. Defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron leads in assists (7) and points (9).

Forward Steve Downie has accumulated 35 penalty minutes already and goalie Mathieu Garon has two wins, a 1.81 goals against average and a .948 save percentage

Defenseman Victor Hedman leads Tampa Bay in ice time, averaging 23:15 per game. Vincent Lecavalier, Steven Stamkos and St. Louis lead in shots on goal with 23 each.

Hedman leads a much improved defensive corps with a +5 rating, followed by Pavel Kubina (+2).

The Lightning have scored 25 goals and allowed 27 goals. The power play is struggling, scoring 14.81% of the time (9th in the east) and the penalty kill is successful 82.93% of the time (7th in the east).

The Bolts scoring attack remains balanced as 15 players have netted goals and 20 players have at least one point in eight games.

Box Scores

Game 6 – Tampa Bay Lightning 4 – Florida Panthers 7

Game 7 – Tampa Bay Lightning 4 – New York Islanders 1

Game 8 – Tampa Bay Lightning 3 – Buffalo Sabres 0

Three Stars of the Week

Marc-Andre Bergeron – Four assists.

Vincent Lecavalier – Two goals and two assists.

Teddy Purcell – A goal and three assists.

The Connolly Conundrum

Because of his draft year, 19 year old rookie Brett Connolly is only eligible to play in the NHL or the WHL this season. The Bolts must decide Connolly’s fate after his ninth game. That game is on Tuesday in Buffalo. The 6’2″, 194 lbs. forward has two assists and is +4 while averaging 13:44 of ice time per game. He is playing much more physical as he gets adjusted to the NHL. He does not look out of place and in my opinion, should be kept on the roster. He cannot learn anymore at the Junior level. Those worrying about his “wearing down” as the season progresses need not fret as coach Boucher will handle him with kid gloves and rest him as needed. If Connolly stays, look for Blair Jones to be the odd man out, despite a great training camp.

The Bolts have a bright future ahead of them with Connolly, Stamkos and Hedman all under the age of 22.

Transactions

No transactions made this week.

Injuries

Defenseman Mattias Ohlund remains on IR after undergoing surgery on both knees. He is out indefinitely.

Summary

The Lightning garnered four of a possible six points this week. After a clunker of a game versus the Panthers, Tampa Bay’s defense tightened up, allowing only 38 shots and one goal the rest of the week. Victor Hedman is maturing into a top tier defenseman right before our eyes.

Goaltender Dwayne Roloson is struggling mightily. He has a startling 5.09 goals against average (58th of the 59 NHL goalies) and an .858 save percentage (54th of the 59 NHL goalies).

This Week

Tampa Bay plays at Buffalo on Tuesday, at Nashville on Thursday and home against Winnipeg on Saturday.

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They are in fourth place in the Southeast Division, already four points behind the Washington Capitals and 11^th in the Eastern Conference.

After five games, defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron leads the team in goals (2), assists (3) and points (5). Forward Steve Downie has accumulated 19 penalty minutes already and goalie Mathieu Garon has a sparkling 2.28 goals against average.

Victor Hedman leads the Bolts in ice time, averaging 23:44 per game. Vincent Lecavalier (18), Steven Stamkos (15) and Hedman (12) lead in shots on goal.

Tampa Bay’s defensemen have started a negative ratings trend with Eric Brewer posting a  -4 and Brett Clark at  -2 in just five games. Penalties have been piling up. The Lightning have accumulated 79 penalty minutes already, averaging  15.8 minutes per game.

On a positive note, the Bolts have 12 different players who have scored and 17 players with at least a point.

Tampa Bay is 11^th in the NHL, averaging almost three goals per game. Unfortunately they are an awful 26^th in the league in goals allowed per game ay 3.4. Their power play is 23^rd in the league, scoring on only 10% of their power play chances. The Bolts penalty kill has been solid, killing the oppositions power play chances 92.9% of the time.

Box Scores

Game 3 – Tampa Bay Lightning 5 – Washington Capitals 6 OT

Game 4 – Tampa Bay Lightning 1 – New York Islanders 5

Game 5 – Tampa Bay Lightning 2 – Florida Panthers 3 OT

Three Stars of the Week

Marc-Andre Bergeron – Two goals and two assists.

Mathieu Garon – Saved 52 of 54 shots for a .963 save percentage.

Dominic Moore – A goal and two assists.

The Connolly Conundrum

Because of his draft year, 19 year old rookie Brett Connolly is only eligible to play in the NHL or the WHL this season. The Lightning has to decide which one it will be before he plays in his 10th game on October 27 in Nashville. Connolly has played well and there is no reason to think he won’t  play in the next four games. The situation isn’t that cut and dried as TBO.com’s Erik Erlendsson explains:

“If Connolly is sent back, the clock on his contract does not begin until next season. Once he plays that 10th game this season, the contract starts this year even if the team decides to send him back to junior.”

“The decision is not as simple as it would appear, because based on his play to this point, it would be a no-brainer that Connolly belongs and he stays the entire season. One could argue that Connolly has been among the team’s most consistent forwards in the early stretch.” Read the full article here.

Transactions

Signed forward Ondrej Palat to a three-year, entry-level contract.

Injuries

Defenseman Mattias Ohlund remains on IR after undergoing surgery on both knees. He is out indefinitely.

Summary

The Lightning have committed too many penalties and turnovers and failed to capitalize on many of their scoring opportunities. There has been a general lack of execution, not effort, throughout the lineup including from behind the bench.

This Week

Tampa Bay plays three at home this week, facing Florida on Monday, the New York Islanders on Thursday and Buffalo on Saturday.

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Certainly there is no reason to panic this early in the season, but Guy Boucher made an error in judgment last night that may have cost the Lightning a valuable point. I hope many of the brainwashed Lightning lambs remember this game later in the season when the Bolts are battling the Capitals for the Southeast Division title. Just in case amnesia sets in, I will be there to remind them.

Both Washington and Tampa Bay played horribly last night, yet each squad was in position to steal a point from the other, when the 5-5 tie game went into a shootout.

Washington’s bench boss, Bruce Boudreau trotted out Matt Hendricks, who has scored on 57.1% of his career shootout attempts. The result was a predictable goal.

Who did Lightning coach Boucher counter with? A) Vincent Lecavalier, the most experienced shootout shooter in franchise history with 12 goals in 48 attempts, for a 25% success rate, (B) Victor Hedman (33%), (C) Adam Hall (30%), (D) Ryan Malone (30%), (E) Marty St. Louis (21%), (F) Steven Stamkos (19% on 21 attempts in just three years)?

NONE OF THE ABOVE.

The “cerebral” coach countered with a “plumber”, as analyst Mike Milbury called him. A fourth line checker that has NEVER been a part of an NHL shootout. Yes, I am speaking of the breakaway dangler himself, Nate Thompson. The result was a predictable complete miss. In fact, the four year, 14 goal “sniper” didn’t even get a shot off after dazzling veteran goalie Tomas Vokoun with his hypnotic, “puck off the skate”, trick move.

UGLY!

The next shootout contestants were Tampa Bay’s Dominic Moore and the Capitals Alexander Ovechkin, 37.5% and 29.3% shooters respectively. Although both were solid choices, neither player scored.

Boudreau then went with Alexander Semin who has the second most goals (13) and attempts (38) in Capitals shootout history next to Ovechkin. The result was a predictable goal.

GAME OVER. POINT LOST.

A coach must put his players in a position to succeed and it is arrogant to base this kind of decision on a hunch or a move that worked a few times in practice, especially against your main rival for the division crown. In that situation, the coach needs to play the percentages. Instead of asking himself, how can I outsmart everyone else, Boucher should have asked, who gives us the best chance to win.

Lesson learned? We’ll see.

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Game Summaries

Game 1:  Tampa Bay 5 – Carolina 1

Steve Downie and Adam Hall netted goals in a ten second span in the third period to propel the Tampa Bay Lightning past the Carolina Hurricanes 5-1 in the season opener. Goalie Dwayne Roloson looked good, making 32 saves.

The win improved the Bolts all-time record in season-opening games to 11-6-2.

Goals by Martin St. Louis and Vincent Lecavalier nullified a one-goal deficit and put the Lightning up 2-1.

Although the Lightning roared in the third, the first two periods were a much different story. Carolina outshot Tampa Bay16-12 and controlled plays in the Bolts end much of the first two stanzas. Despite the barrage of offense from Carolina, they could only solve Roloson once, when Jeff Skinner scored at 8:07 of the first period.

Ryan Malone scored a third period insurance goal and the Lightning went on to win their second consecutive opening game against Carolina.

Game 2:  Tampa Bay 1 – Boston 4

In his first start in a Bolts jersey, Mathieu Garon stopped 38 shots and Martin St. Louis scored for the second straight game, but the Tampa Bay Lightning fell to the Boston Bruins 4-1 on Saturday night inBoston.

St. Louis’ goal was a product of a hustling Vincent Lecavalier who stole the puck from Boston’s Nathan Horton. Ryan Malone jumped on the loose puck and passed to a streaking St. Louis who beat his former college teammate Tim Thomas for the 300^th goal of his career.

That was all the Bolts could muster against the Stanley Cup Champions, as Thomas was stellar in net, stopping 25 shots.

The Bruins were led by Rich Peverley’s two goals. David Krejci and Daniel Paille also scored for Boston.

Boston dominated the game, outshooting the Lightning 42 – 26. The Bolts struggled mightily in their own end all night and didn’t convert on their offensive opportunities.

Coming off a win Friday night against Carolina, Saturday’s loss left the Bolts in the midst of a tough five game road trip covering ten days.

Three Stars of the Week

Martin St. Louis – Two goals and an assist.

Steven Stamkos – Two assists.

Dwayne Roloson – One win and a 1.00 GAA.

Transactions

Assigned Forward Dana Tyrell to AHL Norfolk.

Placed Defenseman Mattias Ohlund on injured reserve.

Reassigned Forward Alex Hutchings and Goalie Pat Nagle to ECHL Florida.

This Week

Tampa Bay plays at Washington on Monday, at the New York Islanders on Thursday and at Florida on Saturday.

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Brett Connolly, Yzerman's first draft pick makes the team

Today the Tampa Bay Lightning cut down to the23 man roster limit by sending forward Dana Tyrell to Norfolk. This means that their number one prospect, Brett Connolly has made the team. The junior eligible, 19 year old sniper can play a total of nine games before the Lightning needs to decide whether or not to send him back to his junior team. If he remains with the team after the ninth game, his $2.7 million contract will activate.

Tyrell, who played all of last season with the Lightning, was a victim of circumstance. With defensemen Mattias Ohlund and Scott Jackson injured, the Bolts could keep 14 forwards. Of the 15 remaining forwards, only Tyrell could be sent down without going through the waiver process.

Because of the defensive injuries, the Bolts decided to keep Blair Jones, Tom Pyatt and Mattias Ritola to further evaluate them.

Connolly was the Bolts leading scorer in the preseason and if the lines that practiced together today are any indication of how the team will start the season on Friday, he will skate with Ryan Shannon and Dominic Moore on the third line.

Here is your Tampa Bay Lightning 2011-12 opening day roster:

Forwards– Steven Stamkos, Vinny Lecavalier, Dominic Moore, Nate Thompson, Marty St. Louis, Ryan Malone, Brett Connolly, Mattias Ritola, Blair Jones, Teddy Purcell, Steve Downie, Adam Hall, Ryan Shannon, Tom Pyatt.

Defensemen — Eric Brewer, Victor Hedman, Pavel Kubina, Marc-Andre Bergeron, Matt Gilroy, Brett Clark, Bruno Gervais.

Goalies — Dwayne Roloson, Mathieu Garon.

Injured reserve — Mattias Ohlund (No structural damage to knee), Scott Jackson (Will be sent to Norfolk)

*Bottom Connolly photograph courtesy of Susan Ferlita.

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The Tampa Bay Lightning cut 27 players today, getting down to 26 players left in camp.

Forwards Michel Ouellet, Mike Angelidis, JT Wyman, Alex Picard and Trevor Smith; along with defensemen Richard Petiot and Mike Vernace were placed on waivers Sunday. Assuming none are claimed, they will be assigned to Norfolk.

Players who do not require waivers and were assigned toNorfolk: Goaltenders Dustin Tokarski, Pat Nagle and Jaroslav Janus. Forwards Richard Panik, Tyler Johnson, Carter Ashton, Alex Hutchings, James Wright. Defensemen Mark Barberio and Radko Gudas.

Forwards Cory Conacher and Matt Fornataro, defensemen Jeff Dimmen and Kevin Quick were released from their tryout contracts, but are already under contract with Norfolk and will report to the Admirals on Monday.

Forwards Eric Neilson, Gabriel Desjardins, Philip-Michael Devos and Pierre-Cedric Labrie were released from their tryout contracts.

The Bolts also assigned Ondrej Palat toNorfolk.

Defenseman Daniel Milan was assigned to his QMJHL junior team,Moncton.

Tampa Bay still needs to cut at least four more players before the October 7th opener.

Forwards Brett Connolly, Mattias Ritola, Blair Jones, Tom Pyatt, and Dana Tyrell are vying for the final roster spot. Lightning coach Guy Boucher said, “There is absolutely no clarity, and right now it’s the opposite, there is a lot of players that are fighting for spots, and they are not necessarily fighting for the 13th spot, they could be fighting for higher spots.”

Lightning training camp roster

Bolts Brass - Owner Jeffrey Vinik, Coach Guy Boucher and Asst. GM Julien Brisebois take in training camp

Superstar Steven Stamkos

Ryan Malone

Marc-Andre Bergeron

Nate Thompson

Eric Brewer

Steve Downie

Pavel Kubina

Bruno Gervais and Vincent Lecavalier

 *All photographs courtesy of Susan Ferlita*