general

How much should the Bolts rest Vasilevskiy?

February 4, 2020 general

Tuesday, 4 a.m. As always, he is a beast between the pipes. But how often to you unleash him? He is on a hot streak, and once again, he is the backbone of the Tampa Bay Lightning. He is the man in charge of keeping pucks out of danger, a man who will put his […]

Read the full article →

Mahomes sells us all on his Super Bowl effort

February 3, 2020 general

Monday, 4 a.m. Would you buy a new car from this man? How about a luxury watch? A cheeseburger? A new suit? A Disney vacation? Today, it starts. In every ad agency with a medium-sized account, execs are going to start imagining their protects in the hands of Patrick Mahomes. After all, if he can […]

Read the full article →

Backup goalie snuffs San Jose for latest win

February 2, 2020 general

Sunday, 4 a.m. There for a while, it appeared that Curtis McElhinney might as well take the day off. He could have gone to the beach. He could have worn flip-flops onto the ice. He could have brought a magazine. After all, for one period, the San Jose Sharks managed just two shots — two […]

Read the full article →

Kucherov’s splashy goal lifts Lightning again

February 1, 2020 general

Saturday, 4 a.m. This is how you will remember him, with the puck on his stick, with the ice open in front of him. Nikita Kucherov, the best player in the NHL a year ago, has been downgraded to “pretty good” for most of the season. But in the third period of the Lightning’s 4-3 […]

Read the full article →

Super Bowl could turn into the Mahomes show

January 31, 2020 general

Friday, 4 a.m. He is on the front porch of history. From here, all he has to do is enter the room. He is Patrick Mahomes, and he is 24, and he could be voted mayor of Kansas City any time he wants to run. He has won 23 of 30 regular season games, and […]

Read the full article →

Stamkos leads Lightning rally over Kings

January 30, 2020 general

Thursday, 4 a.m. Early in the second period, there was an uh-oh moment for the Tampa Bay Lightning. Seventy-eight seconds into play, and Alex Iafallo scored to give the Los Angeles Kings a 2-0 lead over the Lightning. Because Tampa Bay had lost to Dallas in overtime Monday night, a slow start to the second […]

Read the full article →

Do the Lightning scare enough opponents?

January 29, 2020 general

Tuesday, 4 a.m. Here at the oasis, you ask: How’s the trip going so far? Halfway through their journey (actually, a tad more), and how are the Tampa Bay Lightning doing? Well, pretty good. Call it a B. A par. Better than most teams, not as good as you might think. Frustrating at times. Vexing […]

Read the full article →

Defensive breakdowns doom the Lightning

January 28, 2020 general

Tuesday, 4 a.m. Following a long break for the All-Star game, the Tampa Bay Lightning returned to play Monday night in Dallas. Sort of. Officially, the Lighting played another game. But after a mix of turnovers and odd-man rushes, it didn’t quite seem so in a 3-2 overtime loss to Dallas. Goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy, trying […]

Read the full article →

Remembering Kobe and one man’s dreams

January 27, 2020 general

Monday, 4 a.m. He was intelligent. He was fluid. He was charismatic. But as much as anything else, Kobe Bryant was a dreamer. It was in the 2012 Olympics when Bryant, the former Lakers’ star who died in a helicopter crash Sunday, sat on small stage in a corner of London reserved for the Olympics. […]

Read the full article →

Testing a fan’s patience: The Tampa Bay quiz

January 26, 2020 general

SUNDAY, 4 a.m. So you say you’ve seen it all. You say you’ve got it all figured out. You have seen the past, and you can imagine the future. Nope. Nothing is going to surprise you. All of your question marks are exclamation points. You know what the Bucs are going to do with Jameis […]

Read the full article →