I’ve taken a good bit of the week off because of Family in town and because I had been helping to run Sticks of Fire while Tommy Duncan was out of town.
So you never saw me give a post-game report on the 4-3 overtime win versus Washington… Costa at Population Statistic does a damn fine writing about his concerns after this win:
After last night’s eked-out 4-3 overtime win over the hapless Capitals, Tampa Bay Lightning coach John Tortorella said his team would be a dangerous playoff opponent.Dangerous? To whom? The biggest danger the Bolts pose is to themselves, by sliding out of the postseason race. They needed to comeback again and again just to force OT against Washington. In the game before that, they needed to rally from four goals down against Florida — another team they should be plucking an easy two points from (and didn’t, falling to the Panthers 6-5 in overtime). Tampa Bay is one short losing streak away from being bounced.
Now, CT comes off negative telling the stark, realistic truth of the matter in his article… So it may come as no surprise if fans react adversely to his honesty. The Lightning are 2 points ahead of the New Jersey Devils in the Eastern Conference Playoff race and own the tie breaker if the teams ended up even in the points race. That’s not a strong playoff position with the up-and-down game they’ve played this year. 4 points in front of Montreal, 5 games in front of Atlanta. The Lightning cannot falter …
Injuries last night to Dan Boyle and Fredrik Modin do not ease my mind either.
