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Quick Strikes: Brayden Point among the league leaders in game-winning goals

And the Tampa Bay Lightning spend the day in Chicago following a big win on Sunday against the Blackhawks

The Bolts

What did the Tampa Bay Lightning’s 6-3 win over the Chicago Blackhawks mean? Bryan Burns gets into it with his 3 Things We Learned post-game thoughts article. [NHL dot com]

“The more shots you get to the net and you drive downhill on those guys - not just these guys but anybody - and collecting the rebounds, everything went our way that period,” Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said. “The good thing for us we scored on some of them because it would have been really demoralizing to get shots like that and not score some goals. Everything went our way.”

Here are some special numbers from that game that you won’t want to miss. [Tampa Bay Times]

28 penalties killed to open the season before Chicago snapped the Lightning’s impeccable streak. That streak almost came to an end when the Wild scored seconds after a power play ended Saturday. The Lightning still has the top penalty kill in the NHL at 96.5 percent. Goaltender Louis Domingue gave up a goal on the penalty kill late in the third period after snapping his stick out of frustration on the goal that made it 5-2.

Brayden Point is in some great company at the moment when it comes to the best game-winning goal scorers in the league right now.

Winner of the game against Chicago, Louis Domingue explains his mask, and it’s old-school Tampa connections.

Like Cooper said above, everything went right for the Lightning against the Hawks. But what were those “everything” things we talk about? [The Athletic]

The teams were a perfect match. You have a high-powered Lightning offense, which led the league in scoring last season for a reason. You have Chicago, which has allowed the league-most shots on goal per 60 minutes (35.75). The Blackhawks have given up fewer than 30 shots in just one of their eight games this season.

Nikita Kucherov and the Bolts boys spent the day in Chicago. Their Instagram feeds tell that story.

Joe Smith goes in depth on Ryan McDonagh; where he came from and how it’s shaped who he is today. [The Athletic]

Before McDonagh became the Rangers captain and a Lightning trade-deadline acquisition, he was a rarity — a three-sport star who became a first-round NHL Draft pick after playing four years of high school hockey. Sabres forward Casey Mittelstadt, from nearby Eden Prairie, is another, taken eighth overall in 2017.

Former Bolt Dave Andreychuk has his old retired Maple Leafs number hung up to the rafters of his hometown rink in Hamilton, Ontario.

The Prospects

In this week’s Crunch Corner includes information on Gabriel Dumont’s injury, and Cory Conacher’s return to Syracuse. [Raw Charge]

A split of the two games this weekend has to feel like a bit of a victory in and of itself after the previous week. Despite losing to Utica on the back end of the weekend, the Crunch played well overall. Their special teams generated offense and their goaltending was solid. Rotating in some veteran players definitely seemed to stabilize their play a bit.

Syracuse Crunch captain Gabriel Dumont will miss four to six weeks after suffering a lower-body injury. [Syracuse]

Dumont is the latest name added to an injury-plagued start to the Crunch’s season. Daniel Walcott and Kevin Lynch suffered preseason injuries in Tampa Bay, with Walcott out 4-6 months and Lynch possibly back this weekend.

Andy Andreoff is the Crunch’s Player of the Week after a big offensive week.

There was little defence to be had this past week when it came to the Orlando Solar Bears. [Raw Charge]

Jacksonville put up three goals against Ouelette in the middle period. Alexis D’Aoust cut the Solar Bear lead in half with his second 6:03 into the period. Garret Cockerill then tied the game up with his first of the season, at the 9:12 mark. Finally, with 58 seconds remaining in the period, the IceMen got their first lead on a power play goal from Everett Clark. To add insult to injury, the Solar Bears lost a player to a major penalty for the second straight game. Vince Dunn was ejected for a checking from behind major.

Tampa Bay Lightning Reassign Forward Mitch Hults to Orlando Solar Bears - Syracuse Crunch

The Game

Things are not going well for the Los Angeles Kings, and the fans are starting to turn - LAK fans. [Jewels from the Crown]

I’ve watched every second of this four game skid and it has been a mess. There’s been no chemistry. No joy. No smiles. No effort, even. Teams like Ottawa and and Buffalo are quietly laughing at us. How embarrassing was it that the Islanders came to California and mustered two goals in losses to the Ducks and the Sharks but annihilated us 7-2?

Sebastian Aho has been on a tear to start the season. Are the Carolina Hurricanes for real?

The Blackhawks have placed goaltender Anton Forsberg on waivers. Yes, you heard that right, not Cam Ward on waivers. I guess that’s what happens when Stan Bowman gives a bad goalie a no movement clause and term. [Second City Hockey]

Ward helped the Blackhawks start the season 3-0-2 while Crawford made his return from a concussion. Despite Ward being 34 years old and well past the peak years of his career, head coach Joel Quenneville opted not to play Forsberg during the five-game stretch that included a back-to-back.

The Bolts play Gabriel Landeskog and the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday, here’s a quick look at how the team from Denver is faring. [Mile High Hockey]

It is always nice to see goal scoring early with nine different goal scorers and 16 players on the roster with points already. It is much more difficult to get players going after a slow start when confidence and gripping the stick tighter seem to enter the equation. Getting the big line of Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and Gabe Landeskog going with a combined 38 points after eight contests is helping propel the team as well.

Highlight of the Night: Petr Mrazek against your old team, take a bow!

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