The Bolts
The Lightning played one of their better games of the season last night against the Atlantic Division rival Boston Bruins. The Bolts controlled the game at 5v5 but took way too many penalties allowing Boston to keep the game close in regulation and eventually send it to overtime. But in the end, the good guys managed to secure the two points in the shootout. Hardev has the full recap.
On the plus side, the Lightning led the shot attempts battle 44-40, not a great margin, but it was in the scoring chances where the Lightning shined. They won that race 26-15, and it showed in their shot map. There’s a lot of good things to build on for the Lightning, and a strong even strength showing against one of the best teams in this category is a good way to start. Next up, Colorado.
If you need an update to your wallpapers and backgrounds, we’ve got you covered for October. Check out this article to give your devices a new look.
Friend of the site Jay T. (@TheRoar_24 on twitter) was kind enough to make some Tampa Bay Lightning schedule wallpapers for October 2019! The phone background is extra long to accommodate different varieties of phones. He’ll be back with more in November.
The Prospects
Just as the Lightning have been up and down so far this season, so have the Syracuse Crunch. And their most recent game was certainly a downer as they lost 6-2 to the Utica Comets. Justin has the recap for us. Hopefully, the Crunch can bounce back in their next game the way the Lightning did last night.
The beauty of a long season is that certain games can be buried and forgotten over the course of six long months. Wednesday’s game against Utica will hopefully be nothing but a mere footnote once the season wraps up next spring. The Syracuse Crunch were outplayed in every aspect of the game as they fell to the Comets 6-2 in Utica’s home opener.
The Game
Valentin Zykov of the Vegas Golden Knights tested positive for performance enhancing drugs meaning that he’ll face a 20 game suspension. In an unusual move, the team proceeded to make a big show of the fact he admitted to them that he knowingly took the supplement. If I’m a player negotiating a deal with George McPhee in the future and he brings up the word “loyalty,” I’ll be sure to remember this time he completely sold out Zykov for no reason.
.@GoldenKnights say Zykov “knowingly used a banned substance without the consent, recommendation or knowledge of our team.” pic.twitter.com/XZldwDwcPM
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) October 17, 2019
Get a look at some early season power rankings from the AHL. The Crunch are in the middle of the pack at 13th.
Okay start for the Crunch on five points through the first two weeks. Better than most. Tough opponents coming in these next two weeks.
If you’ve been following along with the issue with the leagues shot location data early this season, that issue has been fixed as of Wednesday night. The leagues hasn’t gone back to fix previous games but there are some indications that will happen in the relatively near future.
Update on that NHL shot distance story from yesterday: As many in the analytics community have noted, the league found the “glitch” in their system that was counting crease shots and attempts as being several feet away. I was told fix was made Wed night.
— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) October 17, 2019
