Exclusive Lightning coverage by Gary Shelton Sports

Once again, Lightning wins behind no-name scoring

April 3, 2017 general

Monday, 3 a.m. Have you heard this one before? The Tampa Bay Lightning, desperately clinging to a shot at the NHL playoffs, fall behind early. The Lightning instead turn to the no-names on the bottom of its roster. The Lightning come from behind to win. There is Joy in Mudville. Again. This time, it was […]

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Bolts slide further back after overtime defeat

April 2, 2017 general

Sunday, 3 a.m. Where else would you want the puck to be? Who else would you want to be in control? When else would make better sense? Overtime, game on the line, and this time, Nikita Kucherov – the author of so many big goals for the Tampa Bay Lightning, did not convert. What? Is […]

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Ask Gary: Kucherov has an outside shot at MVP

April 1, 2017 general

(Each week, the readers take over GarySheltonsports.com and play Ask Gary. They send in a question, or a couple, on Thursday night or Friday morning and we all talk about the world of sports.  Think of it as a radio show where you don’t have to be on hold. Join us and ask a question, make a comment […]

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Down a (big) player, Lightning rally to beat Detroit

March 31, 2017 general

Friday, 4 a.m. Okay. What’s next? How in the world can the Tampa Bay Lightning make things any harder on themselves in this NHL playoff race? Let’s see. They could tie their skate laces together. They could use golf clubs instead of hockey sticks. The defensive players could play offense, and the offensive players could […]

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Bolts’ Gourde has his once-in-a-lifetime moment

March 28, 2017 general

Tuesday, 4 a.m. If there was a moment he was born to, this was it. If there was a moment that he had bounced around for, going from the Victoriaville Tigers to the Worcester Sharks to the San Francisco Bulls to the Kalamazoo Wings, it was this one. For a lifetime — if 25 years […]

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Lightning rebounds with big victory over Boston

March 24, 2017 general

Friday 4 a.m. It wasn’t how often the Tampa Bay Lightning fell behind Thursday night. It was how long they stayed there. The Lightning, for once a spunky, resilient team, came back three times from one-goal deficits. Their accumulated time? A total of only 163 seconds. The bounceback ability of the Bolts, not seen nearly […]

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Lightning blows one against low-flying Coyotes

March 22, 2017 general

Wednesday, 4 a.m. It felt like goodnight. It felt like time to turn the lights off. It felt cold and empty and meaningless. Oh, yes. You can still talk about mathematical possibilities if you wish. The Tampa Bay Lightning remain, amazingly, only four points out of the playoff chase. They have 10 games left. There […]

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All eyes on Vasilevskiy in the Lightning’s stretch run

March 20, 2017 general

Tuesday, 4 a.m. There are some 300 shots still headed his way. You hope he is ready. There are 11 games left, and maybe nine of them have his name on them. You want him to be ready. There are dozens of mistakes by the defense, exposing him to this breakaway or that one. You […]

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Random Thoughts: Non-aggression helps Revis

March 19, 2017 general

Sunday, 4 a.m. The reason Darrelle Revis got off, evidently, is that police could find no evidence of him ever hitting anyone. Especially not in a game. – Maybe people would be less grumpy about Colin Kaepernick’s decision to sit last season if they recognized what he’s doing to ease the Somolian famine. Actions are […]

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Lightning takes another one on the chin in loss to Caps

March 19, 2017 general

Sunday, 3 a.m. In their biggest week of the season, the Tampa Bay Lightning came up small. For the second straight game, the Bolts were clobbered Saturday night. This time, it was a 5-3 loss to Washington as T.J. Oshie scored a hat trick. The Lightning has now surrendered 10 goals in its last two […]

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