It took a little longer than everyone wanted, but on Thursday night, Conor Sheary finally scored his first goal with the Tampa Bay Lightning. After spending the last few games on the fourth line, Sheary was bumped up to the second line with Nick Paul and Steven Stamkos and the trio was buzzing for the first 60 minute of the game.
It was in the second period that Sheary ended up with the goal. It was courtesy of a little luck and a veteran’s knack of being in the right spot at the right time that led to his 121st career goal.
First off, credit to Sheary for willing to front the net with Victor Hedman whistling chest-high 90 MPH slappers in his direction. As the puck works it’s way up to Steven Stamkos at the half-boards, Sheary makes a nice read to see that the soft spot by the net will be to Elvis Merzlikins’ left. So he settles in behind the defense and waits for the play to develop.
Stamkos tries to wire a pass to Erik Cernak, who had slipped into the slot, but the puck ricochets off of a skate. Sheary reads the deflection and has his stick on the ice and is able to slip out and deflect it past a helpless Merzlikins.
With the goal Sheary became the 303rd player in Lightning history to record a goal for the franchise. He also became the first player named Conor to score for the Bolts. Congratulations.
Lightning / NHL News
Lightning let lead slip away [Raw Charge]
Erase the first 10 minutes of the third period and it’s a pretty good game. Sadly, that’s not the way the NHL works.
Hayden Fleury assigned to Syracuse [Raw Charge]
He will give the Crunch a hand defensively for a few games.
Tampa Bay area high school hockey leagues mandating neck guards [Tampa Bay Times]
Following in the wake of Adam Johnson’s death, more leagues are making the safety gear mandatory. It won’t be long until they are an accepted part of the gear like visors or helmets.
Syracuse Crunch Shave for a Change [Syracuse Crunch]
The Crunch are raising money for cancer research at Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital this month. If they reach their $10,000 donation goal several players will shave their heads prior to their Hockey Fights Cancer night on November 24th.
Alex Killorn sheds no-contact jersey in Anaheim [Derek Lee Twitter]
Killer’s west coast debut could be just days away.
Offseason pickups that are paying off early [Bleacher Report]
Some solid names on the list. As you can imagine, Alex DeBrincat is one of them.
NHL player combinations [The Athletic]
The Victor Hedman / Erik Cernak combination gets a mention for the Lightning. They didn’t start the season together, but have played well over the last few games.
NHL Style Rankings [Bleacher Report]
Often imitated, but never duplicated, Sara Civian drops here latest style rankings from around the NHL. No Bolts on the list this week, but with four road games, maybe they will show up for next week.
Still not used to Marty St. Louis as a silver fox.
