The Bolts
The Tampa Bay Lightning won again. This time against the Winnipeg Jets. Nikita Kucherov broke some records. This is a recording. [Raw Charge]
The 2018-2019 season continues to be a special one for Tampa Bay. By defeating the Central division leading Winnipeg Jets, 5-2, the Lightning secured their 51st win of the season in their 67th game. The Lightning’s depth stood out this evening with Adam Erne, Mathieu Joseph, Cedric Paquette, and Anthony Cirelli all appearing on the score sheet (Yanni Gourde, Steven Stamkos, and Brayden Point also scored this evening). Though, the shining star sits with Nikita Kucherov, who tied Vincent Lecavalier’s single season points record with a two point effort this evening. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 30 saves while Connor Hellebuyck stopped 33.
With his primary assist on Stamkos’ 2nd period power-play goal, Victor Hedman (127 career power-play points) is now Tampa Bay’s all-time leading defenseman power-play scorer, passing previous record holder Dan Boyle. #Bolts #WPGvsTBL
— Bryan Burns (@BBurnsNHL) March 6, 2019
Before the game, head coach Jon Cooper continued repeating the mantra he tells every group of visiting reporters about why he has such a good team.
#Bolts head coach Jon Cooper was asked how his team has managed to stay so consistent this season.
“Coaching,” he responded, before laughing & talking about team’s leadership group.
“When the leaders have bought in and are directing the traffic, usually good things happen.”
— Bryan Burns (@BBurnsNHL) March 5, 2019
If everything goes smoothly, Brayden Point should be a Bolt for a long time. Soon, we may be calling him Boltden Point. Tampa Bayden Point? Tampa Bay Pointning? I need to stop.
Good read by our @PierreVLeBrun talking to GMs on offer sheets this summer. #tblightning GM Julien BriseBois reiterated he’s not worried about one for Brayden Point. “We’re set up pretty nicely to retain all our core players and Brayden is one of them.” https://t.co/w4wIpoDiFK pic.twitter.com/Q60S4HbGzh
— Joe Smith (@JoeSmithTB) March 5, 2019
The Prospects
Your weekly Syracuse Crunch recap includes some…can we say weird?… goalie movement by the Crunch. [Raw Charge]
Other than a brief dalliance with the flu for Eddie Pasquale, the Crunch had another healthy week. While no one came back from injury, they didn’t lose anyone. With the way this season is going, they can count that as a win. Per Coach Ben Groulx, Dennis Yan is healthy enough to play, he just hasn’t been able to work him into the line-up yet. The same goes for Jonne Tammela.
Celebrity Bartending night is on its way! If you’re in the Syracuse area on Thursday night, go say hi to Mitchell Stephens and his pile of broken glass that used to be his bartending juggling act! I’m kidding, hockey players are probably great jugglers.
Miss last night’s @Molson_Canadian / @MillerLite Celebrity Bartending?
We’re right back at it with @Stephens2727 and Nolan Valleau this Thursday from 6 to 8 p.m.
Join us as we raise money for @UpstateGolisano.
Details: https://t.co/V7WmqhBjow pic.twitter.com/zZDX8rfS8G
— Syracuse Crunch (@SyracuseCrunch) March 5, 2019
The Syracuse Crunch painted some hockey sticks and raised some money for charity!
We’re Painting With A Purpose tonight at @PWATDeWittNY. 🎨 pic.twitter.com/vqGAJoy4WN
— Syracuse Crunch (@SyracuseCrunch) March 6, 2019
Honestly, these are so cute.
Thank you to everyone who joined us at @PWATDeWittNY for Painting With A Purpose! 🎨
We raised $1,220 from registrations and will put these player paintings up for auction to raise more, all for #ChangeForChange benefiting @UpstateGolisano. pic.twitter.com/4aU9GduCUM
— Syracuse Crunch (@SyracuseCrunch) March 6, 2019
The Game
The NHL GM meetings are currently going on in some sunny beach destination. One of the things being brought up during the talks is with regards to safety for the players.
One item that gained significant traction in GM Meetings today is if a skater loses his helmet, he must come off the ice immediately. Similar to what AHL and other leagues have already instituted.
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) March 5, 2019
The New Jersey Devils are one of the more forward-thinking organizations in hockey (proof can be found in the next link). It’s really cool to see them have a Pride Night.
We appreciate everyone that was a part of last week’s New Jersey @NJDevils Pride Night. 🏒🏳️🌈#HockeyIsForEveryone #NJDevils #YouCanPlay @NHL @NHLPA
❤🧡💛💚💙💜 pic.twitter.com/1btXVIyg7p— You Can Play Project (@YouCanPlayTeam) March 5, 2019
And speaking of the New Jersey Devils, their former video analyst Rachel Doerrie joined the Steve Dangle Podcast to talk about the Leafs, her insight into the team side of hockey, her thoughts on the Toronto Maple Leafs, and her mental health issue that she struggled with while working in New Jersey. I highly recommend listening to this, even if it’s just the end. The podcast is time-stamped so you can skip the ugly Leafs parts.
New @Steve_Dangle @Panago_Pizza Podcast with @AdamWylde & @racheldoerrie
📻: https://t.co/Rfb0Xd0aXW (Also Spotify & iTunes)
📹: https://t.co/hnLT24gyAg pic.twitter.com/pRMI2NcIZq
— Jesse Blake (@JesseBlake) March 4, 2019
Someone made a rap about Alex Ovechkin. And in the words of Achariya, “this is pretty epic.” [Russian Machine Never Breaks]
Highlight of the Night: congrats Filip Zadina on your first NHL goal!
First career goal alert 🚨 @filip_zadina pic.twitter.com/8q92gdplQz
— NHL GIFs (@NHLGIFs) March 6, 2019