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Quick Strikes: The rookies step up for Tampa Bay Lightning in win vs Carolina

The Bolts

The Tampa Bay Lightning top the Carolina Hurricanes 4-3 in preseason game #2. The rookies were out in full force as Adam Erne, Tye McGinn, Mikhail Sergachev, and Boris Katchouk all scored for the Bolts. “A minute into the second period, Tampa’s Anthony Cirelli boarded Derek Ryan in front of the Hurricanes bench, and Haydn Fleury jumped in to defend his teammate. Fleury earned an instigator penalty for his trouble.” A full game recap can be found at CanesCountry.com [Canes Country]

“If he was nervous, he didn’t show it too much.” – Coach Jon Cooper on Mikhail Sergachev

The Lightning made some cuts prior to their game against Carolina yesterday, sending “forwards Kevin Hancock, Alexey Lipanov, Christopher Paquette, Taylor Raddysh, defenseman Oleg Sosunov, and goaltender Joseph Raaymakers [back] to their respective juniors teams.” The CHL schedule begins tomorrow, so none of these cuts should come as much of a surprise. [Raw Charge]

The Prospects

Cal Foote or Timothy Liljegren? That was the question Lightning GM Steve Yzerman pondered at the draft table on June 23rd, 2017. Yzerman picked the former, allowing the Toronto Maple Leafs to select the latter at 17. @GeoFitz4 examines if that was the right decision after seeing some tom foolery on twitter. [Raw Charge]

“Trying to compare Foote and Liljegren is a little like trying to compare Drew Doughty to Erik Karlsson. Karlsson is undoubtedly the best offensive defenseman in the league and puts up a large number of points every season. Doughty is considered one of, if not THE best, defenseman when it comes to playing defense.”

Before his impressive performance in Carolina on Wednesday, Mikhail Sergachev admited he was nervous about getting into his first exhibition game with the Tampa Bay Lightning. “The Lightning coaches got in Sergachev’s ear on the bench to calm him Wednesday. ‘They told me, ‘Just play your game.’’” [Tampa Bay Times]

Head Coach Jon Cooper spoke highly of his OHL-trained pivot-man Anthony Cirelli, speaking about his ability to do everything well and how reliable he can be to his team on the ice.

This timelapse isn’t making October 7th arrive faster. I should write a strongly worded email about this.

The Game

Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.ca spoke with former NHLer Jason Blake about his bout with cancer and how he can empathize with Brian Boyle, who has been diasnosed with leukemia. ““I didn’t miss any (regular-season) games, but it was tough. It’s basically chemotherapy in a pill form. I came to camp (at) 182 pounds, because that’s what I played at. I lost 10 pounds in the first seven, eight, days.” [Sportsnet]

“That day (I was diagnosed), they took part of my bone marrow,” Blake said. “That night, we had a pre-season game against Buffalo. I wanted to play, but it hurt so bad I couldn’t. It was tough. I missed practices, I missed pre-season games. I didn’t want to be the new guy in town, with teammates thinking I was asking for special treatment. So I asked if I could address the team.”

Erik Cole has retired from the NHL, and will be taking on an ambassadorship role with the Carolina Hurricanes, the team he won the Stanley Cup with in 2006. “Cole proved throughout his career that he was a useful player in any team’s lineup. He was a four time 20-plus goal scorer, and a two time 30-plus goal scorer.” [Last Word on Hockey]

The new NHL faceoff rules have not been recieved well from fans and players alike. “The faceoff change has elicited largely negative responses across the hockey world. The league’s goal here makes sense — it wants the rules enforced more effectively than before — but the implementation has been questionable. Pacing of games has been stifled, and players are struggling to adjust on the fly.” [SB Nation]

“This faceoff rule is an absolute joke. That’s how you ruin the game of hockey, by putting that in there. They’re gonna have to do something about that because we can’t play this year like that.” – Brad Marchand (via WEEI.)

Puck Daddy counts down some of the main storylines from the past week, including Joffrey Lupul, China, and Don Sweeney actually doing something right. “Weird situation, but to Lupul’s point about ‘they cheat, everyone lets them,’ it seems like a bit of a coincidence that it’s guys like Stephane Robidas, Jared Cowen and now Lupul who get deemed medically unfit to play and it just so happens that it’s a little convenient for the richest team in the league.” [Puck Daddy]

Let it also be known that on Wednesday, Lupul went to twitter to apologize for being an “unneeded distraction.” [TSN]

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