The Lightning
-The Tampa Bay Lightning took on the Columbus Blue Jackets in a do-or-die game four last night. Sadly for everyone involved on our side of things, the results…weren’t…great. In an effort to hold off the encroaching darkness, here’s a look at what happened that was actually good last night:
Time to fight for our lives.#GoBolts pic.twitter.com/3xg8aGDTcy
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) April 16, 2019
#TBLightning take to the ice for pregame warmups just prior to taking on the #CBJ in Game 4 of the #StanleyCupPlayoffs. https://t.co/U6rsUPS7DG pic.twitter.com/ONGXqkMnHe
— Dirk Shadd (@DirkShadd) April 16, 2019
Tyler Johnson talks about how the @TBLightning‘s approach from here on out is to play one solid period of hockey at a time.#TBLvsCBJ #StanleyCup #GoBolts #NHL pic.twitter.com/IpNo7rzS8s
— FOX Sports Florida (@FOXSportsFL) April 16, 2019
#TBLightning Steven Stamkos celebrates a first period goal after beating #CBJ Sergei Bobrovsky. https://t.co/U6rsUPS7DG pic.twitter.com/51CRvTyio1
— Dirk Shadd (@DirkShadd) April 17, 2019
#TBLightning Cedric Paquette celebrates his second period goal against #CBJ during Game 4 of #StanleyCupPlayoffs. https://t.co/U6rsUQ9Ive pic.twitter.com/eJXZuSN7kE
— Dirk Shadd (@DirkShadd) April 17, 2019
Perfect redirect from Ceddy. 👏#TBLvsCBJ | #GoBolts pic.twitter.com/gGfhjHjXU7
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) April 17, 2019
Right to his backhand, up and over! 🙌#TBLvsCBJ | #GoBolts pic.twitter.com/d7t0HWpRma
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) April 17, 2019
Shoutout to everyone at @sparkmanwharf right now watching Game 4.
Stay loud. ⚡️ #GoBolts pic.twitter.com/bQwzMiUnX5
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) April 17, 2019
-Going into last night’s game, what exactly was going wrong for the Bolts? Well, here’s the other side of things:
Three games into this series, the #CBJ have challenged #GoBolts transition game while playing with tremendous discipline.
Here’s @treed1919’s look at the Jackets low-penalty game: https://t.co/kPZoURJ4k5
And my dive into their suppressive forecheck: https://t.co/EDxbS8OGvO pic.twitter.com/12azvXlV4H
— Alison (@AlisonL) April 16, 2019
You’ve also heard lots of other things about why that is happening from lots of different places. The Lightning are getting run out of the building. They’re getting their asses kicked. They’re getting curb stomped. They’re gutless. They’re chokers. Etc. Etc. Etc.
All of it is nonsense.
-Tampa will pick at 27 in this year’s draft:
As the winners of the Presidents trophy and the No. 1 seed heading into the playoffs, the Tampa Bay #Lightning have now been eliminated from the post season and will automatically slot in as the 27th pick in the 1st RD of the June Entry Draft.https://t.co/950OhwVqcp pic.twitter.com/l6gInqqliw
— CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) April 17, 2019
I want to take a second to ask y’all to take care of yourselves today, okay? Okay.
We don’t have any words and we know you don’t want to hear them.
We understand your anger, your frustration, your sadness. Everything you’re feeling – we get it.
This isn’t the ending we imagined, and certainly not the one we wanted. Thank you for being there the entire way.
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) April 17, 2019
The Crunch
-The Syracuse Crunch is gearing up for their own playoffs. Their first round matchup with Cleveland starts Friday in Syracuse. The slate for the AHL of teams with NHL parent clubs slugging it out is surprisingly full.
11 of the 16 teams that made the #CalderCup Playoffs also saw their NHL affiliate make the #StanleyCup Playoffs. Amazingly, seven of the eight teams in the Eastern Conference have both their NHL and AHL teams in the playoffs. Only Rochester has its full team to start playoffs https://t.co/cw4ojxnmX4
— Lukas Favale (@LukasFavale) April 16, 2019
These guys are entertaining anywhere.
But hockey is better on ice. 👊 pic.twitter.com/LH4ms8iQvc
— y – Syracuse Crunch (@SyracuseCrunch) April 16, 2019
-Syracuse and Cleveland as hockey cities have a little bit of playoff history already:
This is the first time since the 1950’s that Syracuse and Cleveland will meet in the #CalderCup Playoffs. #SyrCrunch
1937-38: Syracuse Stars def. Cleveland Barons (2-0)
1952-53: Cleveland Barons def. Syracuse Warriors (3-1)— Lukas Favale (@LukasFavale) April 16, 2019
-Syracuse is getting ready to support its team:
#RaiseIt Playoff posters are in! Looking for some help getting around town! pic.twitter.com/E0Svrm1iYR
— Jim Sarosy (@JimSarosy) April 16, 2019
Our #CrunchFamily is ready #RaiseIt.
The 2019 #CalderCup Playoffs come to Syracuse this weekend. 👊 pic.twitter.com/FLoDPa9UIj
— y – Syracuse Crunch (@SyracuseCrunch) April 16, 2019
-Going into the playoffs, the Crunch are ranked at second in Patrick Williams’ Power Rankings.
They face the Cleveland Monsters in the AHL version of this Columbus-Tampa Bay organizational match-up. Cleveland is by no means an easy match-up, but Syracuse’s exceptional special-teams play is a major asset going into the postseason. The Crunch are a bona fide Calder Cup contender.
-En route to their North Division championship, Syracuse tied or set multiple team records.
Their 47 wins and 102 points are tied for the most in franchise history, but they are the most in a 76-game schedule; their previous mark was set during an 80-game season. Because of that, the Crunch’s 0.671 points percentage is a new team record, surpassing last year’s 0.658. The Crunch ended the season at 47-21-4-4 and their 25 losses (L+OTL) ties for the fewest in franchise history.
-The Crunch are not very good at working at other jobs, but it sure is funny watching them try!
These guys are entertaining anywhere.
But hockey is better on ice. 👊 pic.twitter.com/LH4ms8iQvc
— y – Syracuse Crunch (@SyracuseCrunch) April 16, 2019
The Solar Bears
The Orlando Solar Bears are looking at a potentially pivotal game three tonight. Their series is currently tied 1-1.
“Everyone in this locker room is a good group of guys, I think that’s why they’ve had such good success this year. There’s a good foundation to this team, so it’s good to be a part of.”
News and quotes from practice at the North Charleston Coliseum ahead of Game 3 tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/LfF4lbxJ4W
— Orlando Solar Bears (@OrlandoHockey) April 16, 2019
The Prospects
-Lightning prospect Sammy Walker got his pretty trophy yesterday for B1G Freshman of the Year.
Conference honors for Sammy Walker and Rem Pitlick arrived this week. Walker was the first #Gophers player to earn B1G Freshman of the Year while Pitlick earned #PrideOnIce’s ninth First Team honor. Minnesota has now carried a First Team honoree in 5 of 6 years in the Big Ten. pic.twitter.com/18BZ4nqY7G
— Minnesota Men’s Hockey (@GopherHockey) April 16, 2019
The Others
-Does anyone else keep forgetting we have an expansion draft thing to worry about eventually? I sure do.
Expansion draft update:
Cale Makar played his first pro-game last night for the #Avs, because he has a waivers signing age of 20 years old, he is now eligible for the expansion draft
Our expansion draft simulator has also been updated to reflect thishttps://t.co/DP5mKUfZ26 pic.twitter.com/60iRivyqfI
— CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) April 16, 2019
-The New York Rangers have a draft pick now:
As a result of Tampa Bay being eliminated from the post season, the #Lightnings 2019 2nd RD pick will now be the selection that is officially transferred to the New York #Rangers as part of the Ryan McDonagh trade back on February 26, 2018.https://t.co/0HFCao8vLr pic.twitter.com/uA3mWCh1Vk
— CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) April 17, 2019
-The LA Kings named Todd McLellan head coach yesterday.
Welcome to Los Angeles, coach. https://t.co/TgBag2RzLD
— LAKingsPR (@LAKingsPR) April 16, 2019
