ECQF Game 2 preview: Tampa Bay Lightning (5) at Pittsburgh Penguins (4)

by John Fontana on Apr 15, 2011 11:19 AM EDT in Game Previews

In one of his most famous images, Martin St. Louis bleeds during the waning minutes of the 2004 Stanley Cup Final in Tampa, Florida. St. Louis often endures pain to play, be it the regular or playoff seasons. (Photo by Dave Sandford/Getty Images)

WHERE:CONSOL Energy Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
WHEN: 7PM EDT
MEDIA: Sun Sports (cable), 970 WFLA (radio), live audio streaming available at tampabaylightning.com
OPPONENT COVERAGE: Pensburgh, Let's Go Pens, The Pensblog

Martin St. Louis played down his latest feat of endurance and tolerance of pain yesterday, telling reporters that they were the ones making more of a story out of things than he was.

"I've moved on."

Yet, from a fan perspective, there is no way you can't make a big deal out of this. You can read the news and watch the replay... And then consult the score sheet. Despite the stick-to-the-ace, despite the bleeding, despite teh pain that he was undoubtedly experiencing, Martin St. Louis led Tampa Bay forwards in time-on-ice Wednesday, logging 17:53 of ice time.

He's five-nothing, weigh's 100-nothing... He's Martin St. Louis, and enduring and tolerating and plodding on isn't just because it's the playoffs... No, it's because it's what Marty does. It's just how it goes, and why he's so beloved among the Tampa Bay Lightning faithful.

And now he's a rallying point, at least for the fans... The question is, is he a rallying point for his teammates as well?

The Bolts struggled in the faceoff circle during Wednesday's game one, especially on the penalty kill. It's easy to point out the need for the Bolts to improve in that area, but it's a lot harder to figure out how. Dominic Moore was a dominant 10-for -15 in the faceoff circle, while Nate Thompson, who lead the Bolts in faceoff percentage during the regular season, had a team-worst 20% faceoff percentage (he went 2-for-8, 0-for-5 in short-handed situations).

No surprises in net tonight, as Dwayne Roloson will get the nod for the Lightning and "the growing legend of" Marc-Andre Fleury will be in goal for the Penguins.

Defenseman Randy Jones may be back in the lineup tonight, as well as Marc-Andre Bergeron, as head coach Guy Boucher is floating the idea of going with 7 defencemen and 11 forwards. Regular readers and die-hard fans will know this is not an unusual move for Boucher, as he loves the extra options that a seventh active D-man brings to the lineup.

[Note by John Fontana, 04/15/11 11:51 AM EDT ]No Randy Jones, per Erlendsson on Twitter.

Other Previews

Tampa Bay Lightning official team preview

SB Nation Tampa Bay

Full game coverage on SB Nation

Tweet Comment 10 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

They'll be better tonight

While still discouraged about Wednesday’s Bolts penalty-fest, I’m encouraged by last night’s games—Boston and Philly being shut-out in particular.

If the Bolts play like they did Wednesday night—but avoid taking bad penalties at bad times as well as dumb plays in our zone (yes, I’m talking to you, Pavel Kubina)—the team will be just fine.

I came into the playoffs hoping for a split in Pittsburgh—I still wish that for Our Team.

by MTBoltFan on Apr 15, 2011 1:04 PM EDT reply actions