There are brighter stars in the Tampa Bay Lightning's constellation.
He lacks the vision of Nikita Kucherov. He lacks the reach of Andre Vasilevskiy. He isn't as potent as Brandon Hagel or Jake Guentzel.
All Anthony Cirelli does is provide the heart for his team.
Cirelli registered the second hat trick of his career in Thursday's 6-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins at Benchmark International Arena.
It was a win that allowed the Bolts to pull into a first-place tie with Buffalo in the Atlantic Division.
Cirelli scored the game's opening goal, a short-handed goal and an empty netter. He now has 23 goals on the season. Cirelli has the second-most goals in a season in his career, behind only the 27 he scored in 2024-25,
Also scoring for the Bolts were Brayden Point (18th), Zemgus Girgensons (9th) and Nikita Kucherov (41st). Kucherov also had two assists, giving him 124 points (second in the league's scoring race).
Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 21 of 24 shots for his 36th win of the year (most in the league).
The Bolts are home at Benchmark at 5 p.m. Saturday against Boston.
Once more, the relievers of the Rays were tossing batting practice Wednesday afternoon at American Family Life Field in an 8-2 loss to Milwaukee.
Consider. In six games, Rays' starters have given up 13 runs, an acceptable total. But the bullpen has given up 25 runs.
Throw in a sloppy defense -- the Rays have a major-league worst nine errors on the season -- and it's understandable why the Rays are 2-4 on the season. All three of the Rays' errors were by Junior Caminero.
For the second straight day, the Rays had a 2-0 lead in the third on Yandy Diaz' home run. But the Rays had only five other hits on the day. They were 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position.
Drew Rasmussen was good in his start. He gave up two hits and one earned run. In two starts, he's given up two earned runs and six hits.
The bullpen continues to struggle, though. Ian Seymour has an ERA of 16.88. Griffin Jax is at 22.5. Mason Englert is at 18.
The Rays have today off and play Friday at 4:10 p.m. at Target Field in Minnesota. Joe Boyle will start for the Rays against Bailey Ober.
If you are measuring the Rays' loss to Milwaukee on Tuesday night, it's understandable if you are disappointed.
The team blew a 2-0 lead. They managed just six hits. They allowed the go-ahead run on a sloppy play where they were unable to tag a runner out as he lay prone in the infield.
Ah, but if you look at it long-range, there is a bit of hope to be offered.
Shane McClanahan, finally, is back.
Aftere 972 days after from the field with arm injuries, McClanahan started and had a decent performance. He went 4 2/3 inning, allowing just two hits in Milwaukee's 6-2 victory at American Family Field. McClanahan threw four no-hitinings.
McClanahan faded in his final inning, giving up two walks and both hits.
The big blow was a two-run single by Brice Turang. What made the play worse was that Turang got caught in a rundown. He was tagged out by centerfielder Cedrick Mullins. But Mullins couldn't hold onto the ball, dropping it for an error. That allowed the third run of the inning to score.
The Brewers went on to score three more runs, including home runs by Gary Sanchez and ex-Ray Jake Bauers.
The Rays had led 2-0 on home runs by Jonathan Aranda and Nick Fortes.
The Rays also got a single and a triple from Chandler Simpson.
The Rays and Brewers play again today at 1:40 p.m. at American Family. Drew Rasmussen will start for the Rays agist Jacob Misiorowski.
These days, the Lightning seem to be focused on Buffalo, the team in front of them in the standings.
Perhaps they should pay a little more attention to Montreal, the just behind them.
The Canadiens won their sixth straight game Tuesday night, beating the Lighning 4-1 at Benchmark International Arena.
That allowed Montreal to come within two points of the Lightning.
The Lightning struggled against goalie Jakub Dobes for most of the nihgt, scoring just once on 37 shots. Dobes made that stand up until Montreal scored two empty-net goals late.
The Lightning's only goal came from Jake Guentzel, his 36th of the season.
The Bolts, however, had 17 giveaways.
Nikita Kucherov had six shots for the Bolts while Brayden Point and Brandon Hagel each had five. None of them scored.
The Bolts play Pittsburgh at 7 p.m. Thursday night at Benchmark International.
Tuesday, 4 a.m. Jonny Deluca, game-buster. Deluca, not normally a slugger, turned the game for the Tampa Bay Rays Monday night. Deluca, who had only eight home runs in his previous three seasons with the Rays, took over the game late in a 3-2 win over Milwaukee at American Family Field. In the seventh inning, […]
Monday, 4 a.m. The Tampa Bay Lightning spend much of Sunday afternoon sleep-walking. They were dull and uninspired. They got off only one shot in the entire first period. They won only two face-offs. They were one tick above being comatose. And still, they won. Somehow, they won. Without Andrei Vasilevskiy in net, without Nikita […]
Monday, 3 a.m. Offense. Following their first win, the Tampa Bay Rays want you to talk about their offense. They want you to talk about an opening weekend in which they scored 23 runs, and one in which they compiled 41 hits. They want you to talk about Yandy Diaz, who had five hits and […]
Sunday, 4 a.m. Yeah, they start slow. Yeah, they dig themselves a hole too often. Yeah, they tend to turn games into uphill climbs. But on days such as Saturday, the Tampa Bay Lightning treats slow starts as minor inconveniences. The Bolts fell behind for the fifth straight game, and they fell behind by two […]
Sunday, 3 a.m. Another day, another slice of agony for the Rays’ bullpen. The Rays, who gave up an eight-run sixth inning in Thursday’s opener, gave up two runs without recording an out in the 10th inning of Saturday’s game. The result was a blown comeback by the Rays and a 6-5 loss to St. […]
Friday, 4 a.m. Maybe the Tampa Bay Lightning should stop giving their opponent a head start. Lately, games of the Lightning have followed a familiar pattern. They start slow. They catch up. And then it’s a coin flip. For the third straight game, the Bolts fell behind 3-1, this time to Seattle in Thursday night’s […]
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About Gary Shelton
• No one covers Tampa Bay like Gary Shelton.
• No one has seen as many moments, as many athletes, as many coaches as he has over the last quarter of a century.
• No one has won more awards, including two national Associated Press Sports Editors Best Columnist awards and eight top 10 finishes. He also just received his sixth Sportswriter of the Year award for Florida by the NSSA.
• No one has seen more big events, including 29 Super Bowls, 10 Olympics and 11 Final Fours. Gary still goes into the locker rooms to obtain his stories.
• No one has made you angrier, or laugh louder, or think harder about what he has written.
Now, he begins a website designed to keep him in touch with the readers who have grown up on his words.
