A day after his buddy Taylor Raddysh scored his first career NHL goal, Boris Katchouk hit the same milestone. The two, on a line together with Ross Colton, had a great night against the terrible Philadelphia Flyers, scoring two goals and coming home with five points as a line.
Let’s go, Bo!
Congrats, @RussianRocket13. pic.twitter.com/MW3AC6wYYu
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) December 6, 2021
Here’s the replay of Boris’ goal. You can tell his first and only reaction was of relief that finally something went in for him. It was only until Jan Rutta joined the scrum and shook him out of his stasis that he finally broke a smile. Good for Boris, and like Raddysh, I hope this opens the floodgates.
.@RussianRocket13 picks up his first NHL goal!! 👏 pic.twitter.com/3yc0mQEcKt
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) December 6, 2021
Speaking of the win and floodgates, here’s Justin’s recap from the night. 1000 franchise wins for the Tampa Bay Lightning, what a milestone. [Raw Charge]
“Boris Katchouk scored his first NHL goal and Taylor Raddysh scored his second in as many nights as the Tampa Bay Lightning throttled the Philadelphia Flyers, 7-1. Corey Perry scored twice while five Lightning players posted multi-point nights. Brian Elliott made 38 saves as he beat one of his many former teams.”
And here’s Bryan Burns’ three things column. [NHL dot com]
“Brian Elliott took a shutout over 47 minutes and finished with a Lightning season-high 38 saves on 39 shots to win against his former team. Elliott hasn’t been defeated in regulation in four-straight starts, going 3-0-1 since November 6.”
Before the game, we got some good and bad news on the injury front. Good news: Mathieu Joseph is healthy again — and he even scored in the game! Bad news, Erik Cernak was out, and is now listed as day-to-day. The Lightning play three times this week, including a game against the first place Leafs, hopefully he’s ready for that.
Injury update: Erik Cernak will not play tonight and is day-to-day with a lower-body injury.
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) December 5, 2021
And our last story of the day is a big one: the Vancouver Canucks have cleaned house in their front office and coaching staff.
It took ownership long enough. I think the straws that finally broke Francesco Aquilini’s back were the “Fire Benning” chants and the Canucks jersey thrown on the ice on Saturday night.
Rogers Arena crowd is very restless right now.
Chants of “Fire Benning” and a lot of booing. #Canucks
— Clay Imoo (@CanuckClay) December 5, 2021
A jersey has been thrown onto the ice in Vancouver…
— Julian McKenzie (@jkamckenzie) December 5, 2021
So anyway, onto the firings. Jim Benning and his AGM are out. Travis Green and his assistant are out. Bruce Boudreau is coming in as the head coach under contract for this season and next. And finally, Chris Gear moves up into the interim GM position. They’re on the lookout for someone, and it sounds like John Chayka is on the shortlist (after he serves his suspension from the NHL for the draft combine scandal that ends Jan 1st, 2022). I think that would be a terrible move — just look at the Coyotes — but that’s a story for a different day.
Believe the changes in Vancouver will include Jim Benning and John Weisbrod out as GM and AGM. Chris Gear likely steps into an interim role. Travis Green and Nolan Baumgartner out on the coaching side. Bruce Boudreau and Scott Walker in on coaching staff.
— Irfaan Gaffar (@irfgaffar) December 6, 2021
