Lets say Vinny can’t play game Five in Tampa on Thursday due to concussion, that leaves only Martin St. Louis on the top line…
That being said — what does the Lightning do?
First things first — Modin/Richards/St. Louis is reunited once again. A consistant force for years, this is not a problem. The next line is a bit more iffy though.
Cory Stillman still exists on the 2nd line with his linemates promoted. That’s where the guesswork starts. Dmitry Afansenkov was promoted to top line duty without the services of Ruslan Fedotenko after Robyn Regehr’s hit in game 3. Assuming Ruslan is still a no go, Affy does indeed play the left wing on the 2nd line once more. And who would play at center? That’s another good question. You could promote checking line standards Tim Taylor or Dave Andreychuk to center the line, or perchance take a risk and use Eric Perrin. I’m for the latter as it would allow lines 3 and four to stay intact. Perrin has played well in a checking/defensive line role and has shown flashes of offensive brilliance in his limited time with the Lightning. Why not take the handcuffs off and let the guy play?
Defensively, the Lightning have depth to cope with possibly losing Dan Boyle and Pavel Kubina for some time… Though for me to mention Stanislav Neckar is sacrilegious to some Lightning fans, it’s better than the alternative — Darren Rumble anyone? There is also minor league depth that has been playing on the Taxi squad, but to be honest — i’d sooner give Mike Eneger a chance than those guys, meaning it’s Neckar or bust.
Ben Clymer playing game 4 gave the Lightning an added dimension – at two-way forward, literally. Clymer can be moved to defense if needed, and if Neckar is indeed playing, I would take that extra precaution and start Clymer once again. Down an attacker is a lot easier to cope with than down a defensiveman.
