Quick Strikes: Louis Domingue celebrates 60th Tampa Bay Lightning win in style

The Bolts

The Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Ottawa Senators 5-2, securing their 60th win of the season. Only two other NHL teams in the history of the league have ever reached that milestone. The Lightning have also only dropped 34 possible points this season. By comparison, most NHL playoff teams drop double that many in a given season. [Raw Charge]

It was another milestone night for Nikita Kucherov. He passes Vincent Lecavalier for most road points in a season with 63. He was also the first player in the NHL to reach 125 points since Joe Thornton did it in 2005-06. They are the only players to hit that mark in the salary cap era.

Before the game, the Lightning recalled Eddie Pasquale from the AHL Syracuse Crunch because Louis Domingue has a lower-body injury. Luckily, it allowed Domingue to have some fun with the boys after the game. You can find information on that and some other organizational updates in this link. [Raw Charge]

Additionally, the Lightning announced that Victor Hedman is officially day-to-day with an upper body injury. This announcement was expected after he was injured at the end of the first period on Saturday night against the Washington Capitals. The Lightning already have Cameron Gaunceup from the Crunch as the 7th defenseman, but also have Anton Stralman close to returning as well.

And speaking of the injured Victor Hedman, here’s an article you might have missed due to our April Fools Day in the Life as a Baseball Blog. Heddy deserves the Norris this season. [Raw Charge]

When the PHWA announced its mid-season award nominees and winners back in January, there weren’t many interesting decisions. For the first time, the PHWA voted for the Rod Langway Award, the trophy for the NHL’s defenseman who ‘best excels in the defensive aspect of the game’. While Victor Hedman landed third in voting for that award, he was left out of the top three for the Norris Trophy (which he won last season).

And let’s not forget some of the other awards. Namely, the Jack Adams. Will Jon Cooper win and finally end the curse that every coach that wins the award is doomed to feel PDO and get fired a few years?

Lastly on the Bolts, it appears that Erik Cernak lost a tooth when he fought Tom Wilson over the weekend. [Russian Machine Never Breaks]

On Sunday, an unofficial Erik Cernak Facebook fan page shared a photo of Cernak with a missing tooth. Screenshots of that image, which we believe to be real, and a caption, which we do not believe to be from Cernak, were shared on Twitter.

The Prospects

The Syracuse Crunch spent their April Fools day singing Baby Shark, Ophelia, doing the Macarena and limbo. I know, right.

The Game

While the Bolts were beating the Sens, John Tavares scored the game-winner against his former team, the New York Islanders, in a 2-1 win, clinching the Maple Leafs a playoff seed. They have also confirmed that the first round will feature a Leafs vs. Boston Bruins rematch. [Pension Plan Puppets]

Calle Rosen had about everything he could have wanted in a debut—he bagged his first goal, he looked very comfortable out there, and he led the team with a sterling 70% CF. This was a pretty nice night, all things considered.

The Arizona Coyotes made a hype video about Avenging their years of suckage with a possible berth in the playoffs. Currently, they’re two points back of Colorado for the eighth spot in the West.