Could we go into a long detailed discussion about how the Tampa Bay Lightning lost this game to the New York Rangers, 7-3? Sure, but that would make us sad, and y’all angry (again). So let’s let one of our commenters sum up the game:
Yup, that pretty much wraps things up in regards to how we feel about this game. The Lightning did not play well. Yes, they had some bad bounces, but the mistakes leading up to those bounces were, for the most part, unforced. They had worked hard over the recent weeks to weed that out of their game, but on Wednesday night, with a depleted line-up, the turnovers returned, and Andrei Vasilevskiy couldn’t bail them out.
Despite the resounding loss, there are at least two members of the Lightning that won’t forget the night. On Tampa Bay’s first goal, scored by Scott Sabourin of all people, Curtis Douglas and Jack Finley picked up assists. For both players it was their first career NHL point (and without doing any research we would venture to say it was the tallest combined height by two Lightning players in franchise history).
It does beg the question – who gets to keep the puck? Do they share custody? Do they flip for it? Where are the reporters asking the important questions like this?
We’re sure they will work it out, but what a great memory for two players that are on somewhat similar career paths. Yes Finley made it to the NHL a few years before Douglas, but both are kind of shoe-horned into a fourth-line, big, physical role. They also know that their futures in the league aren’t guaranteed. So it’s pretty nice that they got to share that moment.
As for the rest of the game, “yikes” indeed.
Oh yeah, and Brandon Hagel left early in the game after taking a big hit. So, great. The Bolts have a couple of days off before their big match against the Florida Panthers on Saturday. Here’s to them getting healthy and learning the lessons from the loss tonight.
