Last night was a late game, and it was also painful. We chose to concentrate on the positive, which was the ceremony honoring former Canuck and Lightning defender, Mattias Ohlund:
Video: Lightning help honor Mattias Ohlund in Vancouver
Hedman on Ohlund: “He deserves everything that’s happening tonight. I’m really proud of him & for me to be a part of it is very special.” pic.twitter.com/WOZamm8Ajh
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) December 16, 2016
Game Recaps
Canucks induct Mattias Ohlund into Ring of Honor, celebrate by defeating Lightning 4-2. “On a night where the Canucks honored their greatest defenseman with a permanent spot in Rogers Arena, Vancouver bounced back from an embarrassing collapse against the Hurricanes, coming out with a 4-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning.” [Nucks Misconduct]
Tampa Bay Lightning Fall In Season Finale Against Vancouver Canucks. “On the bright side, the Tampa Bay Lightning still has one game left in this road trip to bring home a victory and turn this into a successful road trip. The bad news is, the aforementioned game is tomorrow night in Edmonton” [Fox Sports]
Horvat scores off lucky bounce, Canucks beat Lightning 4-2. “Horvat scored on a power play after the puck caromed off Loui Eriksson at the Tampa Bay blue line and skipped to surprised goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy. It bounced off the netminder and right to Horvat, who buried his ninth goal of the season 7:46 into the final period.” [Associated Press]
After an 8-6 loss to the Canes, the Canucks went into the game with something to prove. “With Tanev back to steady the Canucks’ young defence for the first time since re-injuring his ankle on Nov. 2, Vancouver beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-2 at Rogers Arena.” [The Province]
Lightning falls to Canucks (w/ video). “Despite being shorthanded, without Nikita Kucherov, Ondrej Palat and Ryan Callahan, Tampa Bay found itself in a winnable road game at Rogers Arena. It held a one-goal lead in the second period. But the Lightning let another one slip away, a 4-2 loss to the Canucks.” [Tampa Bay Times]
The Bolts
Lightning’s Kucherov, Palat expected out through weekend. “Wings Nikita Kucherov and Ondrej Palat didn’t play in Friday’s game against the Canucks and were not expected to return for tonight’s game in Edmonton, coach Jon Cooper said.” [Tampa Bay Times]
NHL: Tampa ‘in the mix’ for big league events. “Every time (I ask), (Bettman) says, ‘You’re on the list’ and ‘You’re moving toward the head of the list,’ ” Vinik said. “We’ll get one.” [Tampa Bay Times]
The League
This headline though: NHL referee tells player to shut up ‘for f***s sakes’ in Epix miniseries. [SB Nation]
NHL’s ice guru working non-stop ahead of Centennial Classic. “You’re excited, nervous, all those different things come into play,” Craig said on Friday, the third straight day to earn a cold weather alert in Toronto. “You want everything to go well, and making sure that all our temperatures are right where they need to be, monitoring everything all the time.” [Sportsnet]
Why the NHL should add a postseason play-in game. “As of Monday, the Tampa Bay Lightning, Nashville Predators and Dallas Stars are all outside a playoff spot. A good team is going to miss the postseason, a good team that could win a series or three if it makes it into the field.” [ABC News]
Survey reveals sharp fan divide on NHL’s ‘must-see’ players. “As you can see, there’s a rather large dip in support for Ovechkin, Crosby, Kane and Jagr from men to women. One big reason: 38 percent of women said there are no players in the NHL they consider “must see,” vs. 26 percent of male respondents.” [Puck Daddy]
WJC
Huge congrats to my model, my brother!❤️ Enjoy and have fun! You really deserve it❤️ @MathJoseph7 https://t.co/bpwXRgSD9w
— P.O Joseph (@POJoseph15) December 15, 2016
Canada begins quest to ‘be special’ at 2017 world juniors. “This year Canada will call on a player (forward Mathieu Joseph) who has never participated in any international event in its jersey, two players (forward Tyson Jost and defenceman Dante Fabbro) who graduated from the less vaunted BCHL last season, and three players (defenceman Kale Clague and forwards Taylor Raddysh and Blake Speers) who weren’t even a part of the team’s summer development camp.” [Sportsnet]
