The Bolts
You can never read enough news about a Tampa Bay Lightning victory, right? Especially when Jon Cooper took a gamble with the lineup, and produced a miracle. Tyler Johnson was able to spark his fifteen-game goal drought to produce not one but two goals yesterday.
“Star Wars night was celebrated in wonderful fashion at Amalie Arena and the Lightning put on a great performance to get back into the win column. The previous road trip displayed sloppy play, regression, and a perceived lack of motivation from Tampa Bay. Seeing them get a few days of rest and come out as strong as they did this evening is a good sign that their slight slump was merely a road bump on their stellar season so far.” [Raw Charge]
The San Jose Sharks played on the second half of a back-to-back, and seemed like they might even hold steady yesterday, up until the third period when their legs gave out. Lightning expose Sharks’ weaknesses: “The line up from San Jose was about as good as it could be for a team that is missing key pieces. Joonas Donskoi, Tim Heed, Melker Karlsson, and Mikkel Boedker all sat tonight, leaving some shuffling through out the line up.” [Fear the Fin]
It’s nice to wake up to west-coast news like this: Sharks’ winning streak ends with loss to Tampa Bay. “That’s how hockey goes,” said Johnson, who entered with four goals. “Sometimes you get the chances and bounces and they don’t go your way. Other times, you get those garbage goals that just find a way to go in. Luckily for me, I was able to break through.” [Associated Press]
86 goes bar down. 💰 #SJSvsTBL pic.twitter.com/ji7nNtDTpC
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) December 3, 2017
Burns: Three things we learned from sweeping the Sharks. “Neither of Johnson’s markers were garbage goals on Saturday. On the first, he outraced a Sharks penalty killer to reach a dumped puck in the zone first and shoot past an unaware Martin Jones. On the second, he was working hard in front of the net and was able to rebound Stamkos’ saved shot.” [Tampa Bay Lightning]
Mishkin’s Extra Shift: Lightning 5, Sharks 2. “Speaking of Johnson, he had a terrific game playing with Steven Stamkos and Vladdy Namestnikov. He ended up scoring twice and snapped his career-long 15-game goalless skid. He had had some close calls in recent games by using his speed and attacking the net. He finally was rewarded in this game.” [Tampa Bay Lightning]
Only one for Johnny? Eh, let’s go for two. 🔥 #SJSvsTBL pic.twitter.com/7QXBZv0Rtc
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) December 3, 2017
Lightning Wait Out Goaltending, Beat Sharks. “Vasilevskiy had his own set of challenges in the game. The Sharks did take their fair share of shots, putting up 16 in the first two periods, but the action was largely in San Jose’s end. Some of the hardest saves in hockey come after having not seen one for a while. In the first period, it took a freakish rebound to set up the Sharks’ goal. In the second, nothing got past Vasilevskiy.” [Sports Talk Florida]
The Organization
Last night, an ECHL call-up won the game for the Syracuse Crunch, on Teddy Toss night, to boot!
Good thing the Syracuse Crunch called up Ty Loney, because he scored the shootout goal last night against Belleville. “Groulx saw Ty Loney, who was promoted from ECHL after recording 21 points in 20 games. After some hesitation by Loney on the selection, Groulx called his number in the seventh round of the shootout.” [Auburn Pub]
The Syracuse Crunch take down Belleville 5-4 in a shootout — and win their 6th straight game. “After a scoreless overtime period, the game went to a shootout. Joseph solved Hammond in the first round before White scored in the third round to keep Bellville alive. In the seventh round, Ty Loney went five-hole to seal a Crunch victory.” [Local Syr]
There’s always that one guy who has to take it a step further. Even at a teddy bear toss. pic.twitter.com/qGv8biQheL
— Andrew Zadarnowski (@AZadarski) December 3, 2017
So, this thing happened: Chris Didomenico re-claimed off waivers by Ottawa from Tampa Bay Lightning. “Given all of the holes in the Crunch’s original roster right now – Cory Conacher and Jamie McBain are recalled, Erik Condra, Yan, and Walcott are hurt, McGinn is traded, Dumont and Didomenico were lost on waivers – it looks like Syracuse is finally getting some help from the stock of players they have in the ECHL.” [Raw Charge]
The Game
Last night, a Paul Byron hat trick basically broke the entire Red Wings fanbase.
Paul Byron completes the hat trick. [HEOTP]
Let Byrons Be Bygones: Detroit 1, Montreal 10. “Third Period: Nope.” [WIIM]
Siri, how hard is it to map “Steve Yzerman is not coming back to be GM of the Red Wings, so stop suggesting it” as a key-bind?
— Peter WIIM – Numbers Surgeon, Analytics Nerd (@pflynnhockey) December 3, 2017
At the end of the day, the Red Wings are a prime example of groupthink and confirmation bias. We won in the past so therefore we know what we’re doing now
Next GM and coach should come from outside the current organization
— Prashanth Iyer (@iyer_prashanth) December 3, 2017
And in happier news, d’awwwwww:
Congrats bro so proud !!!! https://t.co/s1XNFHc5uv
— Matt Strome (@Mstrome16) December 3, 2017
