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.
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 was plenty of time left for a wake-up call.
The Bolts scored the games' final five goals to coast to a 6-3 win over the Minnesota Wild at Benchmark International Arena. The Bolts now have points in five straight games (4-0-1).
The game was tied at 3-3 with less than three minutes to play.
Erik Cernak scored the winning goal, only his second of the season. Cernak swooped in after Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson fumbled the puck.
Darren Raddysh tied a Bolt record with his 20th goal by a defenseman.
Also scoring was Jake Guentzel, Brandon Hagel and Pontus Holmberg.
Bolts' goalie Andri Vasilevskiy stopped 20 of 23 shots for his 34th win.
The Bolts are home at Benchmark on Thursday night at 7 p.m. against Seattle.
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 trip, rallied from a 3-1 deficit to force overtime.
Few teams have played as well as the Bolts out of a suitcase this year. The Bolts have won 23 games away from home, tied with Colorado for most in the league.
The Bolts took a 1-0 lead on a goal by Ryan McDonaugh, but Calgary scored three straight goals to take a commanding lead.
Darre Radysh scored his 19th goal to bring the Bolts back within one, and Pontus Holmberg tied the game with 4:20 to play,
Calgary won the overtime faceoff and kept possession until Ryan Strome ended the game with 26 seconds into overtime.
Goalie Jonas Johansson allowed four goals on 29 shots. He is now 10-10-1 on the year.
The Lightning returns home to the Benchmark International Arena with a game against Minnesota at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
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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 […]
Friday, 4 a.m. Is it over? Is the plunge off of the cliff complete? Are the Tampa Bay Lightning through with their slump yet? Well, for a night, it was, anyway. The struggling Tampa Bay Lightning at least put their troubles on hold for a game Thursday night at Benchmark International Arena. The Bolts beat […]
Wednesday, 4 a.m. So who cares about the Olympics? Certainly not the Tampa Bay Lightning, who had the NHL’s hottest streak interrupted by this year’s Games. Since coming back, however, the Bolts are 2-6 and caught in mid-swoon. The Bolts were blown away by the Columbus Blue Jackers Tuesday night at Benchmark International Arena. They’ve […]
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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.
