Lightning Round: Cal Foote recalled

On Sunday, the Tampa Bay Lightning recalled defenseman Cal Foote from the Syracuse Crunch. The 22-year-old had spent the couple of weeks with the AHL franchise on a conditioning assignment to get him back into game shape following his rehab from off-season finger surgery. Now he just has to show coach Jon Cooper that he belongs in the Lightning line-up.

In the five games he played for Syracuse, Foote did not record a point while averaging over 21 minutes of ice time. He basically looked like Cal Foote. A lot of nice plays in his own zone, the occasional turnover, and some solid breakout passes. There were moments when the rust showed and he seemed a step behind the play, but by Friday’s game against Cleveland he was well into the flow of the game.

That was the easy part, now he has to show the Lightning’s coaching staff that he has improved from last year and is ready to play consistently. The current right-side of the defense has been okay. Erik Cernak and Jan Rutta aren’t going anywhere right now, so it’s going to come down to him outplaying Andrej Sustr. The original Baby Giraffe has been solid in his return the the Bolts, posting positive possession numbers (51.89 CF%) and only slightly underwater in expected goals (47.64 xGF%). That’s not horrible for a bottom pairing.

At some point Foote will get his chance and will have to make the most out of it.

Lightning / NHL News

Steven Stamkos is back at center, right where the Lightning need him [Tampa Bay Times]

As part of the line-up shake-up The Captain is back in the middle of the ice between Ondrej Palat and Mathieu Joseph. After a couple of seasons on the wing, his move back to the middle of the ice has helped the Lightning regain their scoring touch a bit. Once Nikita Kucherov is healthy again, chances are Stammer moves back to a wing position as well, but he’s enjoying the shift in position for now.

Lightning suffer injury-filled practice on Sunday [NHL.com]

Stamkos had a “maintenance” day on Sunday, which is probably a good thing since more than one Bolt left the ice with an injury. Boris Katchouk left midway through practice and didn’t return. Erik Cernak blocked a shot with his knee and was out for a bit. Zach Bogosian remains out until around Thanksgiving, so it’s a really good time for Cal Foote to be back on the roster.

Ryan Getzlaf passes Teemu Selanne to become Anaheim Ducks all-time points leader [ESPN]

Getzlaf assisted on Troy Terry’s third-period goal for his 989th point. He had entered the game tied with Hall-of-Famer Selanne. In 1,111 games Getzlaf has recorded 457 games and 531 assists. It shouldn’t be much longer until he becomes the first Duck to hits the 1,000 point mark for the franchse. His first point came on October 14th, 2005. It was a primary assist on a Joffrey Lupul goal against Columbus. The secondary assist - Corey Perry.

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