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Quick Strikes: Victor Hedman meets the Swedish Coalition, the Lightning defeat the Islanders

Tampa wins against the NYI on a very special night where they honored those who have or are serving.

Last night, the Tampa Bay Lightning faced the New York Islanders. It was Military Appreciation Night, and the Lightning, as always, kicked things off in style.

I mean, just...this. That’s all.

Leading up to the evening’s events, Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman had the opportunity to visit members of the Swedish Coalition during a visit to MacDill Air Force Base.

In the pregame media blitz, Hedman also had some nice things to say about Slater Koekkoek and the job he’s been doing. Tampa coach Jon Cooper had some great things to say about forward Mathieu Joseph.

It was clear, though, that the Islanders were not going to give up the game without a fight.

One thing has been clear so far: It’s the Youth Movement that’s leading the way in Tampa. Bryan Burns joined The Identity Tampa Bay to give his thoughts about Yanni Gourde’s contract and the youth of the Tampa Bay Lightning in a video that was posted yesterday.

Speaking of Gourde...

Have you been missing our pregame reports? Make sure to be looking for them on our Twitter! Here is last night’s:

The result of the game was another win for the Lightning!

The team stood tall behind a great performance from Andrei Vasilevskiy and goals from Joseph, J.T. Miller, Tyler Johnson, and Steven Stamkos.

After the game, the team hosted military members in the dressing room.

A lot has been said lately about Milan Lucic’s hit on Joseph a few nights ago. Joe Smith asks if there’s ever a “right” way to send a message (it’s behind a paywall, of course, which is sending a message in and of itself that we won’t get into).

Meanwhile, in Syracuse Crunch land, their two victories this past weekend boosted them up seven spots in one blogger’s power rankings. With a tough slate over the night week - the Crunch plays Friday, Sunday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday - can the winning continue?

Andy Andreoff continues to be awesome.

Speaking of the next week, Sunday’s game features the Hershey Bears. A conference foe, this will be Hershey’s only visit to Syracuse this season.

The Crunch had their bubble hockey tournament last night...

...and is hosting a video game tournament later this month:

Daniel Walcott’s father believes he has invented a healthier sports drink, and he wants help with financing from a popular Canadian television show.

With his Hall of Fame induction this weekend, news has focused on Martin St. Louis lately. John Tortorella, who coached Marty for several seasons, shared his views on the forward.

But what makes him a Hall of Famer is not what he accomplished, it’s how Marty had to accomplish it. That’s his great story. That’s the story to tell the undersized kids trying to make it in the NHL or dreaming of one day getting the chance to try to make it.

Writer Dan Rosen also shared his views of Marty’s career, celebrating the “hard road” it took to achieve everything he did.

“I’d rather accomplish hard things than have everything be easy, because when you hit bumps you’re not as ready for the challenges if you haven’t been challenged,” St. Louis said. “The bumps shaped me for the person and player I became.”

Joe Smith also wrote an article for The Athletic about Marty, and as always, it’s behind a paywall. But he did post some great photographic memories to Twitter, too, so I guess we can forgive this one.

Winter Classic jerseys have arrived:

The AHL has featured several of their favorite photos from the past week on their Facebook page.

Speaking of the AHL, be prepared to get THAT song stuck in your head. You know the one. The one about the sharks? Yup.

The Reading Royals are messing with our eyes.

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