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Quick Strikes: Brayden Point becomes youngest Bolt with a five-point game

Posted on by Hardev

The Bolts

Tampa Bay Lightning center Brayden Point has found himself in some *more* exclusive company. He is now the youngest Bolt to ever have a five-point night. He beat offensive juggernaut Pavel Kubina by a year and Vincent Lecavalier by a few more than that.

The news of this record being broken sparked a few really nice pieces on Point and how he fits in with not only the Lightning, but the league as a whole. Yes, he deserves to be that big.

Brayden Point is a bonefide star. [The Hockey News]

Over the past two seasons, Point has flourished in Tampa Bay. Making the leap to the NHL straight out of the WHL in 2016-17, Point, who was selected 79th overall by the Lightning in 2014, chipped in 18 goals and 40 points in 68 outings, good for a 10th-place finish in Calder Trophy voting. He followed that up with the aforementioned, sophomore-slump busting 32-goal, 66-point campaign. And when you measure Point’s per-minute production, he lines up with some bonafide stars.

Why Brayden Point is “definitely” a top-10 center in the league. [The Athletic]

“Pointer has played numerous games where he didn’t have a point and he was outstanding,” Jon Cooper said. “He may have been shutting down the other team or what have you. You feel good for guys when they have a special night like he did tonight for the nights that he didn’t have those and the points didn’t add up. When you consistently play as hard as he does, eventually things like this are going to happen.”

Diverting slightly from this example of some amazing drafting, Geo brings you to themulligan that was the 2007 NHL Entry Draft. Yikes. [Raw Charge]

Today, I’ll be taking a mulligan on the 2007 NHL Entry Draft for the Lightning. The team made nine draft picks with a second, two thirds, a fourth, fifth, sixth, and three sevenths. The fifth round pick and two seventh round picks were acquired by trading a 2008 fourth round pick at the draft. All other trades were completed prior to the draft.

And now, some Halloween tweets:

And the yearly tradition:

The Prospects

The Syracuse Crunch made a pair of roster moves yesterday.

First, they called up forward Mitch Hults from the ECHL Orlando Solar Bears. [Syracuse Crunch]

Hults, 23, has appeared in one game with the Crunch this season. He has also skated in two contests with the Solar Bears, recording an assist. Before being acquired by the Lightning on Oct. 18, Hults played in two games with the San Diego Gulls, tallying an assist. The 6-foot-2, 207-pound forward played in 53 games during the 2017-18 regular season with San Diego, recording 10 goals and 24 points to go along with eight penalty minutes. Five of his 10 goals last season were scored on the man-advantage.

A few hours later, the Crunch sent down forward Troy Bourke to the previously mentioned Solar Bears. [Syracuse Crunch]

Bourke, 24, has skated in four games with the Crunch this season. During 2017-18, he appeared in six games with the Crunch, earning one goal. He also skated in 22 contests with the Adirondack Thunder of the ECHL, tallying 32 points (10g, 22a) and ranking third with a plus-11 rating.

The 5-foot-10, 178-pound forward has 63 points (24g, 39a) in 216 career AHL games with Syracuse, the San Antonio Rampage and Lake Erie Monsters. Bourke has also played in 31 ECHL contests with Adirondack and the Fort Wayne Komets recording 15 goals and 28 assists.

Movember is starting around the world today. It is a movement meant to spread awareness and help with the research of men’s prostate health (because let’s be real, men, we are stubborn as heck and it never hurts to be checked). [Syracuse Crunch]

Throughout November, also known as Movember, the Crunch encourage fans to grow mustaches and beards to help raise awareness for men’s prostate health. The Crunch will also sell mustache and beard pinups. The pinups will cost $1, $5 or $10 and will be displayed around the arena with the donor’s name. All funds will benefit the Prostate Cancer Care and Research Fund at Upstate.

Bubble Hockey Tournament is being run by the Syracuse Crunch! Grab your batting gloves and extra-precise glasses, it’s game time!

The Game

Mike Condon’s unfortunate game against the Arizona Coyotes has gotten him placed on waivers. We’ll see by noon today if he’ll clear and be sent to the Belleville Senators or not.

Rookie Bolt forward Mathieu Joseph had high praise for Nashville Predators defenseman PK Subban. [Tampa Bay Times]

Pernell-Karl Subban’s charisma is easy to see. The crowd at Tootsie’s Bar in Nashville witnessed it first hand when Subban jumped on the stage and sang Johnny Cash’s Folsom Prison Blues the day he arrived after the Canadiens traded him to the Predators in 2016.

It’s hard to be Gritty. It’s been down hill ever since the Boston Bruins won the 2011 Stanley Cup. The newest incarnation of Gritty is having trouble keeping his image all about himself. Too many people have been dressing as him for Halloween. It’s frightening! [Broad Street Hockey]

Over the past couple of weeks, he’s apparently managed to get by with his standard dance moves, which we can only assume he was doing after at least a six pack, especially if it was a game day. I imagine that costume has a beer holder and the belly is mostly a recycling container for empties, but that’s just me.

In a heart-warming story, Alex Ovechkin is trying to pay forward all the love he felt from NHL players when he was growing up by volunteering his time with children with special needs. [Russian Machine Never Breaks]

This has become an annual tradition for Ovechkin, who started volunteering his time with ASHA four years ago. Four years ago, Washington Ice Dogs player Ann Schaab was just ten-years-old and her mother, Melissa Schaab, thought the chance for her daughter to skate with Ovechkin would just be a once in a lifetime opportunity. But Ovechkin formed a special bond with Ann, famously accepting her invitation of a sushi date in 2014.

Highlight of the Night: Damn, kid.

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