Bolts survive barrage to win again

by Gary Shelton on March 17, 2024

in general

Vasilevskiy stopped 47 shots./TIM WIRT

Sunday, 4 a.m.

Are we absolutely sure the Tampa Bay Lightning won Saturday night? I mean, can someone check to make sure?

t Bolts were outshot 50-16 by the Florida Panthers. They gave lip seven power plays. For a while, it looked like their 4-0 lead was in jeopardy..

On the other hand, they had Andrei Vasilevskiy,

Fir a night, that was enough.



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Vasilevskiy played one of his stronger games of the season Saturday night, shrugging off a machine-gun effort by the Panthers. Florida got off 50 shots (to 16 by the Bolts), but lost a 5-3 game.

The Bolts led 4-0 at one point, two of the goals coming from Steven Stamkos  (who  has 27 on the season). But a short-handed by Matthew Tkachuk and two by Sam Reinhart closed the game to within one.

Nikita Klucherov closed out the game with, brought the Panthers to with an empty-net goal with 32 seconds left,

The Bolts are in control of the lead position in the Wild Card Standings.

The Bolts have now won three straight. They are in Las Vegas to take on te Golden Knights Tuesday at 10 p.m.

Point leads Bolts’ comeback over Rangers

by Gary Shelton on March 15, 2024

in general

Point scored six points in win./TIM WIRT

Friday, 4 a/m.

His team’s comeback began with one of his own. Who says the Tampa Bay Lightning doesn’t follow Brayden Point?

After a period of Thursday night’s game, Point was dragging. He was minus two, and his team had only five shots against the New York Rangers. It didn’t look pretty.

And then Point took over. 



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He had three goals. The had three assets.  He tied a franchise record for points. And he led the Bolts to an impressive 6-3 comeback victory over a talented Rangers’ team.

Point, who scored his fourth career hat trick, wasn’t alone. Nikita Kucherov had five points (a goal and four assists.) Steven Stamkos scored the eventual winning goal. And goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy won his 23rd game of the year.

It was a solid win for the Bolts, who also got their second goal from Anthony Duclair in two games.

“I’ll tip my cap to Pointer.,” said coach Jon Cooper. "He was dash-two (minus two) after the first period (as was Kucherov). Those guys knew they had better in them. It was impressive what they did in these second and third periods.  They did a lot of things away from the puck. For us, they’re big players on our team. They have a lot of pride. They even’t happy with how things went in the first period and did something about it.

“We have a group that wants to make the playoffs. They believe they can. No means is one win putting us in the playoffs. We have a lot of work to do. But early in the season, we probably find a way to lose that game. With under 20 left, this team is finding a way to win those.”

The Bolts travel to South Florida to play the Panthers on Saturday night at 7 p.m..

Notes and thoughts from free agency

by Gary Shelton on March 13, 2024

in general

Notes from free agency:

— Every time I think the Bucs overpaid for Baker Mayfield, I think about noteable pine-riders Sam Darnold, Marcus Mariota and Jameis Winston. Darnold and Mariota are getting up to $10 million and Winston can earn as much as $8.7 million to not provide answers for the Vikings, Washington and Browns. Maybe Mayfield should ask for a raise.

— I still say the ultimate Comeback performer in the history of the Bucs is Jason Licht.

— Good to see Lavonte David back. No, I don’t buy the Hall of Fame talk, but he’s a Ring of Honor guy.



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— Yeah, Mike Evans is great. Yes, there are times that Chris Godwin is even better. But I still say the Bucs need a better No. 3 receiver.

— Can’t say I’d be jealous the Bucs didn’t chase Saquon Barkley. Six years as an NFL running back is about 40 in human years.

— By the time you are at this point of the column, Travis Kelce has filed eight new commercials.

— So far, the Bucs have a chance to be every bit as good as the 9-8 season they had.

— The NFC South has a chance to be much, much better next season. New Orleans should be good and Atlanta will be better. Right now, I’d imagine the smart guys will pick Atlanta, then the Saints, then the Bucs.

— So who’s happier? Pittsburgh, which has Russell Wilson. Or Denver, who doesn’t.

— Can the Bears trade Justin Fields to Saskatchewan?

— If you’re ranking the Bucs’ units, yoiu’d have to go 1) Wide receiver; 3) Kickers; 3) Offensive tackle.

— One last testament to Tom Brady’s greatness. Look how Bill Bellchick whittled down Mac Jones’ potential.

— Aaron Rodgers, noted nut job, is on the short list to be on the vice president for Robert Kennedy. Evidently, Antonio Brown was unavailable.

— I miss Jason Kelce already.

— Where, exactly, should the Brinks truck park in front of Devin White’s house?

— Shaq Barrett will be better with the Dolphins than he was with the Bucs. But not much.

— Dak Prescott is being sued for sexual assault. Evidently, the plaintiff wants Baker Mayfield money.

— Granted, Mayfield isn’t headed to the Hall of Fame. But for those guys dissecting his stats from 2023, keep this in mind. Every other starting quarterback in the NFL had a better running game than he did.


Bucs still have major work to do

by Gary Shelton on March 11, 2024

in general

Mayfield is richer, but is he better?/TIM WIRT

Monday, 4 a.m.

Today, he can buy a better car….or 12. He can buy a bigger mansion. Heck, he can even afford to supersize when he goes to McDonald’s.

But, no, Baker Mayfield is not a better quarterback than he was yesterday.

That’s the first lesson the NFL teaches you. That doubling, or tripling, or doing it a few more times, doesn’t make someone a better player. It just makes yoiu richer.



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So don’t assume the Tampa Bay Bucs bought improvement when they agreed to a new contract with Baker Mayfield. Granted, it was a move they had to make, because the alternatives were frightening.

But for the Bucs to get better, there is a lot more work to be done.

What they Bucs have done so far in this off-season was pay the best parts of their team. Mike Evans. Antonio Winfield. Mayfield. Again, that won’t make them better. It just makes them Bucs. The team still has a wretched running game, a horrible pass rush, a lousy offensive line and a woeful secondary. 

That said, it was a good start for general manger Jason Licht. You might hear otherwise in the case of Mayfield and even Evans, but that’s hooey.

Look, if any team knows the cost of letting stars walk away, it should be the Bucs. Once, they let Doug Williams walk, and it took decades to recover. Bo Jackson never came at all. The team gave Steve Young away, and Chris Chandler, and Vinny Testaverde, and Trent Dilfer. They watched them all in the playoffs.

I’ve said this before. Mayfield isn’t among the top handful of quarterbacks in the league. Maybe not the first two handfuls. But those guys all have jobs, you know? It wasn’t like Tampa Bay chose Mayfield over Patrick Mahomes or Joe Burrow or Lamar Jackson.

And maybe that’s the part of Mayfield that has left his critics dissatisfied. They expect too much of him.  Even in a year when he was very good, they want him to be great.

Think about it. Last year, Mayfield won 10 games (counting the playoffs) with the bad running game and bad offensive line and bad pass rush, and all the other flaws of this team. Simply put, there is no quarterback in the history of the NFL who would have won the Super Bowl with last year’s supporting cast of the Bucs.

Can Mayfield win the big one? Depends. Id he has a great defense, a reliable running game, great receivers, a terrifying pass rush, etc.  

And that’s what the takeaway to his signing needs to be. The Bucs have a lot of places they need to be better. They need to ask him to overcome fewer shortcomings.

At that point, maybe Mayfield turns out to be a bargain.

Lightning wallops Flyers in complete game

March 9, 2024 general

Sunday, 4 a.m. When your predecessors are looking on, why not play a game for the ages? The Tampa Bay Lightning, playing in front of several members of the 2004 Stanley Cup Champions, had one of their finest games of the season Saturday night in a 7-0 pasting of the Philadelphia Flyers. One of the […]

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What if the Bucs don’t sign Mayfield?

March 9, 2024 general

Saturday, 4 a.m. Any minute now, he signs. Any second, any heartbeat, and Baker Mayfield signs for scads of money. Then he will pose and grin and tell you that it wasn’t about the money at all. He will tell you he always wanted to be in…where was it…oh, yeah. Tampa Bay. That’s where he […]

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Looking back at Bucs’ win over Carolina

January 9, 2024 general

5 Thoughts Have you ever seen a fanbase less enthusiastic about winning a division title? How many fans rushed out and bought those new “division champions” t-shirts? 2. If Anthonio Winfield isn’t all-pro, they ought to cancel the game? Wait. They already did that. Maybe they should cancel the hula-hoop competition. 3. Can Todd Bowles […]

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Bucs clinch division in sputtering win

January 8, 2024 general

Monday, 4 a.m. Hooray, I guess. Yippee, I imagine. Congratulations, I suppose. Also: Whee. The Tampa Bay Bucs snuck into the NFL post-season Sunday, winning an less-than-impressive game to survive the less-than-inspiring NFC South. The Bucs beat them -0 to tke their third straight division title. It was an ugly eyesore of a game, one […]

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Bolts can’t survive another road trip

January 7, 2024 general

Sunday, 4 a.m. His teammates call him “the best goaltender in the world.” When it comes to Andrei Vasilevskiy these days, here’s a question: What world are they talking about? Vasilevskiy’s struggles continued in Saturday night’s 7-3 spanking at the habs of the Boston Bruins. Vasilevskiy gave up six goals on just 26 shots, and […]

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Do you trust Bucs to handle Carolina?

January 6, 2024 general

Saturday, 4 a.m. This feels bad. It smells bad. From here, you can see disappointment. So can the Bucs manage to beat a team that almost everyone else has? Can they hang around until Carolina realizes what a mess it is, and then pull out the NFC South title? Can a weak pass rush and […]

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