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 goals for the fourth straight, before waking up and taking a 4-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators at Benchmark International Arena.
The Bolts started slow, and struggled to get their offense going in the first period. But they charged back with two goals each in the second and the third.
Goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy won his 35th game, stopping 25 of 27 shots.
Emil Lilleberg scored the wining goal 8:51 into the third period. He had a goal and two assists in the game.
Also scoring for the Bolts were Brandon Hagel, Charle-Edouard D'Astous and Jake Geuntzel (his 34th on the year).
The Bolts try to get off to a better start today when they play against Nashville (and former teammate Steven Stamkos) at 5 p.m. at Benchmark.
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. Louis. The Rays are now 0-2 on the season and have given up 15 runs, most of it by the bullpen.
The Rays waited a while to swing the bats on Saturday. They were no-hit through six innings.
The Rays rallied with four runs in the ninth. Two of the runs came on a hit by Carson Williams, who scored the tying run from first base.
When Yandy Diaz singled in the go-ahead run in the 10th, the Rays seemed to have a chance of winning. But Griffin Jax walked a man on four pitches, gave up a sacrifice bunt and then a single to J.J. Wetherholt. In two games, Jax has an ERA of 18.00.
The Rays managed just seven hits, two of them by Chandler Simpson.
Joe Boyle started for the Rays and gave up two runs in the first. After that, he threw five shutout innings and finished with a three-hitter.
The Rays play the Cardinals today at 2:15 p.m. at Busch Stadium. Steven Matz will start for the Rays against Dustin May.
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 game at Benchmark International Arena. Once again, they clawed their way back to force overtime, but they lost on Brandon Montour's goal 2:47 into the extra period.
The Bolts outshot Seattle 32-19. But they missed on a lot of chances. On their losing goal, Brandon Hagel lost his stick and was headed toward the bench when Montour scored.
The Bolts goals came from Anthony Cirelli (his 20th), Jake Guentzel (his 33rd) and Corey Perry (his 14th).
Goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 15 of 19 shots. He is 34-13-3 on the season.
The Bolts are home on Saturday, playing the Ottawa Senators at 1 p.m. at Benchmark.
If Opening Day can be viewed as an opening statement, there was only one message delivered by the Tampa Bay Rays Thursday.
Oops.
The Rays dropped their first game, 9-7, to the St. Louis Cardials at Busch Stadium. Along the way, there were several misstatements, and misplays, by the Rays.
-- Their bullpen was dreadful, giving up eight runs in the sixth inning (and blowing a 7-1 lead). Ian Seymour, in particular, had a tough night, giving up five runs without getting anyone out.
-- They weren't opportunistic enough. The Rays stranded 16 runners. In the ninth, Richie Palacious struck out with the bases loaded to end the game.
The Rays' offense did well enough at times. They had 17 hits and six walks. Yandy Diaz, Ben Williamson and Nick Fortes all had three hits. Jonathan Aranda and Jonny Deluca had two.
Still, they blew a six-run lead. That's a tough way to start a season.
Drew Rasmussen, the Rays' starter, went five innings and gave up just one run.
Saturday, the Rays and Cardinals play again at Busch at 2:15 p.m. Joe Boyle will start for the Rays against Michael McGreevy.
Wednesday, 4 a.m. For a period and a half, the Tampa Bay Bay Lightning looked as if it was still somewhere on the road. The Bolts, after a return from the west coast, were sluggish and sleepy looking. They fell behind 2-0 in the first period and 3-1 midway through the second. Turns out, there […]
Monday, 4 a.m. Spend enough time on the road, and some stretches are going to turn rocky. Ask the Tampa Bay Lightning, who saw their excellence away from home end in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Calgary Flames at the Scotiabank Saddledome. The Bolts, who took seven of eight points on their latest road […]
Sunday, 4 a.m. Are there any adjectives left? Are there any superlatives that haven’t been used to describe the brilliance of Nikita Kucherov? Probably not. If the word is laudatory, then it’s probably been used to describe Kucherov. Once again, Kucherov was dazzling again in Saturday night’s 5-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers at the […]
Friday, 4 a.m. Because this is hockey, there are nights the offense dries up. There are nights the opposing goalie is too big, and the opposing net is too small. Then there are nights where everything clicks. The Tampa Bay Lightning scored six goals for the second consecutive game Thursday night, taking a 6-2 win […]
Wednesday, 4 a.m. It was apparent that the Tampa Bay Lightning had lost their mojo in recent days. But who knew they’d find it again in Seattle, of all places? The Bolts, 2-9 in their previous 11 games, looked a lot like the team that had closed out the first portion of the season so […]
Sunday, 4 a.m. Have you heard this one before? The Tampa Bay Lightning get off a dreadful start, an absolutely miserable start. They fall behind 2-0 in a hurry. And, surprise, they fight back. They tie score at 2-2, and turn catastrophe into something salvageable. Then, ignoring the opportunity to take over, they fade away […]
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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.
