Tampa Bay Lightning

By Greg Wyshynski • Columbus Blue Jackets left wing Rick Nash, Detroit Red Wings defenseman Brian Rafalski and Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Cam Ward walk into a bar ... oh, wait, no: They've actually been named the NHL's 'Three Stars' for the week ending Jan. 4. Got it. [NHL]

By Greg Wyshynski Honorable Mention: Jose Theodore (31 saves) and the Washington Capitals overcame some bad history in the HSBC Arena to defeat the Buffalo Sabres, 4-2. ... Stick-tap to Chris Bourque of the Caps and Ottawa's Brian Lee for their first NHL goals. ... Maxim Lapierre scored the winning goal in the shoo...

By Greg Wyshynski Preview: Atlanta Thrashers at Toronto Maple Leafs (7:30 p.m. EST; TV: TSN). Curtis Joseph begins his swan song two-game stint between the pipes for the Leafs. Preview: New Jersey Devils at St. Louis Blues (8 p.m. EST; TV: VS). Seriously, Versus?

By Greg Wyshynski As we mentioned in the Three Stars dishonorable mentions, there was some rather terrible officiating around the NHL last night. But as any fan, player or coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets and Tampa Bay Lightning will tell you this morning, those two teams probably got the worst of it.

By Greg Wyshynski Honorable Mention: Loui Eriksson of the Dallas Stars had the night's other hat trick, scoring twice in the first period and then adding a power-play goal in the second period to help Dallas keep pace with the Columbus Blue Jackets in its 6-5 skills competition victory. ... Evgeni Malkin had tw...

By Greg Wyshynski • Is the Florida Panthers' success this season enough to keep Jay Bouwmeester from leaving as a free agent? [ESPN] • With a nagging elbow injury this season, might Gary Roberts of the Tampa Bay Lightning be considering retirement? [Bolts Report]

By Greg Wyshynski • Ed Moran of the Philadelphia Daily News reports that Philadelphia Flyers GM Paul Holmgren has admitted his team isn't going to have the cap space to sign Mats Sundin, and that Sundin's agent told the Ottawa Sun that the final four for his client's services are the New York Rangers, Montre...

By Greg Wyshynski • In a season of wacky decisions on defense, the Tampa Bay Lightning add another one: Waiving Mike Lundin, who played in the NHL Youngstars game last season. [Bolts Report] • Meanwhile, Dan Boyle is rather pleased to be a part of the Lightning mess this season. [AP]

By Greg Wyshynski The Tampa Bay Lightning snapped a nine-game losing streak last night, as Montreal natives Vincent Lecavalier and Marty St. Louis were booed by the Canadiens crowd while powering the Bolts to a surprising, borderline miraculous 3-1 victory.

By Greg Wyshynski Preview: Carolina Hurricanes at Philadelphia Flyers (7 p.m. EST; TV: FSS, CSP). In one of those wacky NHL scheduling quirks, this will be the fourth time these teams have played since Nov. 26. Philly's won two of them. • Japers' take on whether Brent Johnson is "the guy" for the Washington Capita...

By Greg Wyshynski KOULES: Thank you, Mr. President. I feel your words have inspired my team, and they will take that inspiration to the ice tonight for victory. Here starts the Lightning revolution! (Ed. Note: The Lightning lost 4-2, moving to 1-7-4 under interim coach Rick Tocchet.)

By Greg Wyshynski • Did Roberto Luongo suffer a setback at practice for the Vancouver Canucks? [Vancouver Sun] • The 1974-75 Washington Capitals, 1980-81 Winnipeg Jets and 1992-93 Ottawa Senators all make the Sports Illustrated gallery for worst seasons for a team. "Lose-ipeg." Still funny. [SI]

By Ross McKeon Dishonorable mention: Hey, how about the spark the Lightning received from that coaching change? Tampa Bay is 1-7-4 since replacing the fired Barry Melrose with Rick Tocchet. … If you're going to fight, then just fight. Instead, shortly after Scott Gomez of the Rangers and Ilya Kovalchuk...

By Sean Leahy Please recall the waning moments of last Tuesday night's Philadelphia Flyers-Tampa Bay Lightning game. Ryan Malone is coming in on a breakaway and Scott Hartnell decides to throw his glove at the former Pittsburgh Penguins forward to distract him. 

By Greg Wyshynski But goal Mike Smith probably takes the taco with this rant: All of this likely puts a smile on the face of Barry Melrose, the deposed Bolts coach and scapegoat (if you're one of those that feel he's blameless) for the team's disastrous start.

By Greg Wyshynski Honorable Mention: Phil Kessel extended his point streak to 12 games with his 17th goal of the season in the Boston Bruins' 5-3 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning. Zdeno Chara had the game-winner; Paul Szczechura scored his first NHL goal for Tampa. ... Jason Blake had the game-winning goal and tw...

By Greg Wyshynski • Can Shea Weber of the Nashville Predators unseat Nicklas Lidstrom for the Norris Trophy? [ESPN] • The Detroit Red Wings received their Stanley Cup rings over the weekend. Nicklas Lidstrom, Tomas Holmstrom, Kris Draper, Kirk Maltby and Darren McCarty all have four rings. Goodness. [Khan...

By Greg Wyshynski • According to Bob McKenzie, the Tampa Bay Lightning have placed Radim Vrbata on waivers. RDS adds that it's actually Vrbata and Chris Gratton. Yawn ... just another day in sunny Tampa. [Kuklas Korner] • Ottawa Senators GM Bryan Murray says the team will make the necessary room to sign Mats Sundi...

By Greg Wyshynski Preview: Boston Bruins at Tampa Bay Lightning (7:30 p.m. EST; TV: NESN, SUN). The Bruins will go with the same forwards that beat Detroit over the weekend. Barry Melrose's return to ESPN doesn't mean Barrie and Koules don't have to pay him.

By Greg Wyshynski Preview: Dallas Stars at Edmonton Oilers (9:30 p.m. EST; TV: TSN). If the Stars are upset over this whole Avery thing, they're playing the right team. Not because Edmonton is an easy game, but because there's always Stortini if someone needs a hug.

By Greg Wyshynski • If you could have one Philadelphia Flyers center on your team, who would it be: Jeff Carter, Daniel Briere or Mike Richards? Because Carter has certainly increased his profile this season, hasn't he? [Philadelphia Inquirer] • We're hockey photography geeks. David Duprey of the AP had t...

By Greg Wyshynski UPDATE: Sports Business Journal has opened up its article on the Turnkey Index for Puck Daddy readers; as you can see, the Montreal Canadiens (12th), Buffalo Sabres (13th) and Carolina Hurricanes (20th) have cracked the Top 20 for the NHL. Meanwhiile, only the NBA's Pacers, Nets, Knick...

By Greg Wyshynski Honorable Mention: Sidney Crosby had two second-period goals to rally the Penguins. ... Jeff Carter scored his league-leading 16th goal for the Flyers. ... Michael Ryder had two goals and Phil Kessel notched his 12th in the Boston Bruins' emphatic 7-2 win at the New York Islanders. ... Marian Hossa no...

By Greg Wyshynski Preview: St. Louis Blues at Nashville Predators (7 p.m. EST; TV: VS). NHL.com is pimping Chris Mason's return to Nashville, so we can only assume the former Predators goalie gets the start tonight for the Blues. St. Louis is 2-0 without injured center Andy McDonald. Nashville has to feel pretty go...

By Matt Romig You could put captain or coach in this slot, as Lecavalier scored a pair of goals in a 4-1 win over Nashville to hand Rick Tocchet is first victory as an NHL head coach. Vinny opened the scoring by stuffing home the rebound of a Steven Stamkos shot and made it 2-0 with a boomer from the slot just se...

By Greg Wyshynski Preview: Florida Panthers at Boston Bruins (7 p.m. EST; TV: FSFL, NESN). Tim Thomas gets the nod tonight after Manny Fernandez participated in that wild game against the Sabres earlier this week. More trouble for Florida: AccuScore predicts a Bruins win by 0.9 goals.

By Greg Wyshynski • Can Rick Tocchet's line juggling for the Tampa Bay Lightning shake the Barry Melrose funk off the players? [Puck Update] • Mike Van Ryn of the Toronto Maple Leafs hits back at critics who say that he put himself in a position to be injured against the Montreal Canadiens. [Toronto Sun]

By Greg Wyshynski Preview: Washington Capitals at Los Angeles Kings (10:30 p.m. EST; TV: CSN, FSW). No Alexander Semin again for the Capitals tonight. Here is your obligatory Alexander Ovechkin valentine from local media that see him visit as often as the Hale-Bopp comet. 

By Greg Wyshynski • Icethetics does it again, with clear shots of the Los Angeles Kings, San Jose Sharks and Ottawa Senators third jerseys. The front of this SNES tribute is a fail. [Icethetics] • Rostislav Klesla is out for a week for the Columbus Blue Jackets with a wrist injury. [Jackets]

By Greg Wyshynski Honorable Mention: Shawn Horcoff broke a goal-scoring drought with a three-point night, helping the Edmonton Oilers to a 7-2 pounding of the Columbus Blue Jackets. Dustin Penner also added a goal, and was fit enough to play over 17 minutes. ... Patrick Sharp scored his 10th goal of the season -...

By Greg Wyshynski Preview: Edmonton Oilers at Columbus Blue Jackets (7 p.m. EST; TV: RSW). Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal sets the scene: "Dustin Penner is in, Fernando Pisani is on crutches, and Mathieu Garon is in limbo for the Edmonton Oilers' game tonight against the Columbus Blue Jackets." The MLS C...

By Greg Wyshynski As for Tocchet, he gets to see if his two most critical changes to the Lightning lineup have any effect on the offense tonight: Moving Stamkos up with Vincent Lecavalier and Marty St. Louis, and attempting to squeeze anything out of free-agent bust Radim Vrbata by moving Vaclav Prospal off...

By Greg Wyshynski Honorable Mention: Stick-taps to Erik Christensen of Atlanta, Bret Hedican of Anaheim and Jeremy Roenick of San Jose (in another return to Chicago) for their first goals of the season. ... The St. Louis Blues dropped a 3-2 shootout decision to the Montreal Canadiens, but winger Steve Regier s...

By Greg Wyshynski Did you miss Ryan Malone and Mark Recchi and Radim Vrbata and Gary Roberts and Dan Boyle and Andrej Meszaros and Lukas Krajicek and Marek Malik and Steve Eminger? Tampa Bay management has a trigger finger like sniper with Parkinson's.

By Greg Wyshynski Preview: Carolina Hurricanes at Atlanta Thrashers (7:30 p.m. EST; TV: FSS, Yahoo! Sports). The Thrashers, on a four-game winning streak, try to continue to close in on the division leaders Washington and Carolina. No Kari Lehtonen tonight, however. And why doesn't Atlanta have a captain ye...

By Greg Wyshynski Tampa Bay Lightning Head Coach Barry Melrose has been relieved of his duties and Associate Coach Rick Tocchet has been elevated to interim head coach, Executive Vice President & General Manager Brian Lawton announced today. Melrose, 52, was named the sixth head coach in Lightning h...

By Ross McKeon Dishonorable mention: Leading 2-0 after 20 minutes, the Lightning sat back and let the Stanley Cup champion Red Wings outshoot them 18-3 in the second period. … The Phoenix penalty kill had a rough night, to say the least. Facing a Minnesota team that was just 1-for-21 in the power play befor...

By Greg Wyshynski Preview: Detroit Red Wings at Tampa Bay Lightning (7:30 p.m. EST; TV: FSD, SUN). Let's see ... a tremendously pissed Wings team, a Lightning team that was just shut out by the Panthers ... well, that's why they play the games, right? The Lightning seem to believe they have a defensive advantage tonig...

By Greg Wyshynski • Meanwhile, TSN learns that Carolina Hurricanes president Jim Rutherford was offered the Leafs' team presidency and the GM job last August. Brian Burke = 2nd choice? LOL! [TSN] • The Los Angeles Kings vaguely discuss their mysterious third jersey. [Icethetics]

By Greg Wyshynski • Two Stanley Cup rings from the Montreal Canadiens were stolen as part of a million-dollar heist. Police describe the Ottawa Senators as "persons of interest." [Kuklas] • A postmortem on the San Jose Sharks' first home loss last night to the Nashville Predators. [Two for Elbowing]

By Greg Wyshynski Preview: Nashville Predators at San Jose Sharks (10:30 p.m. EST; TV: FSS, CSBA). The Sharks are trying to become the first team since the 1964 Chicago Blackhawks to open the season with 10 consecutive wins at home. Mr. Plank offers another preview over on Fear the Fin.

By Greg Wyshynski In fact, she hasn't worn Capitals gear to a home game since goaltender Olaf Kolzig, who played for Washington from 1989 through last spring, was phased out in favor of Cristobal Huet, who was acquired from the Montreal Canadiens at the trade deadline last season. And she said she still won'...

By Greg Wyshynski With the spotlight and a flood of emotions on the other side of the ice with Olaf Kolzig, Johnson made 34 saves in the Capitals' 4-2 win over the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning. Johnson didn't allow an even-strength goal against the Bolts, and made 28 saves in the last two periods. This was his fo...

By Greg Wyshynski Preview: Edmonton Oilers at New York Rangers (7 p.m. EST; TV: MSG, RSW). The Rangers are pretty good at making backup goalies look like Patrick Roy, which presents an interesting situation with the Oilers since Edmonton is carrying three keepers. Lauri Korpikoski is back with the Blueshirt...

By Sean Leahy Somewhere in South Florida, Panthers owner Alan Cohen is wondering how he could have okayed the Luongo deal with former general manager Mike Keenan. Todd Bertuzzi is now with Keenan in Calgary. Alex Auld is in Ottawa. Bryan Allen has had modest success and Lukas Krajicek is a member of the Tam...

By Greg Wyshynski • The Washington Capitals are planning a video tribute to former goalie Olaf Kolzig when the Tampa Bay Lightning come to town on Monday. Coach Bruce Boudreau: "I hope if he's starting [the fans] give him the round of applause I think he deserves and the recognition he deserves." [Capitals In...

By Greg Wyshynski That's the underlying vibe for the Tampa Bay Lightning, as they sent defenseman Matt Carle to the Philadelphia Flyers for forward Steve Downie and defenseman Steve Eminger on Friday night. Carle, you'll recall, was the centerpiece of the Dan Boyle trade to the San Jose Sharks this summer....

By Greg Wyshynski Ryan Malone, Tampa Bay Lightning (7 years, $31.5 million): He inked a $31.5 million, seven-year contract; perhaps that deal didn't include the first 12 games of the season. In fairness, every line below the Lecavalier line has been shuffled and reshuffled by Melrose. And the titanic undera...

By Greg Wyshynski Preview: New York Islanders at Atlanta Thrashers (7 p.m. EST; TV: MSG, SS). This could be a fun little game between two aggressive teams. That said, the Thrashers are right now the worst team in the NHL because LA has a game in hand. And yet Waddell's checks still clear.

By Greg Wyshynski • Samuel Adams teams up with the Boston Bruins for Bru Fest, a celebration of hockey and beer. Pre-game booze, Boston fans, a game against the Toronto Maple Leafs that night ... what could possibly go wrong? [Bruins] • Great news for the Los Angeles Kings, as defenseman Jack Johnson could be bac...

By Greg Wyshynski • Janne Niskala of the Tampa Bay Lightning cleared waivers and will be reassigned to a team in Finland. We don't want to say the Bolts are being run like a fantasy team, but this is ... what, their 47th player transaction on defense since July? [Lightning Strikes]

By Greg Wyshynski Jared Boll, Columbus Blue Jackets (One-year fight record: 8-14-5; 2007-08 pay: $545,00) Riley Cote, Philadelphia Flyers (One-year fight record: 11-13-0; 2007-08 pay: $500,000) Adam Burish, Chicago Blackhawks (One-year fight record: 3-8-5; 2007-08 pay: $525,000)

By Greg Wyshynski • WWE Diva Kelly Kelly rocks a Tampa Bay Lightning sweater during a tag-team match. Vinny Lecavalier now the second best-looking person to ever wear a Bolts jersey. [The Power Play] • Attendance is down and the team is losing, but the Atlanta Thrashers co-owner says GM Don Waddell is safe.[Sp...

By Greg Wyshynski There have been a few teams that have reached into the free-agent pool and pulled out something they felt could affect their fortunes in October. The Tampa Bay Lightning, for example, signed former New York Rangers defenseman Marek Malik; he's a plus-2 in four games, during which the Bol...

By Greg Wyshynski • Unlike ESPN viewers for the last decade, Barry Melrose doesn't have a mute button. Which is why covering the Tampa Bay Lightning is already pretty damn awesome this season. [THN] • Optimism and the Ottawa Senators? Dogs and cats, living together ... mass hysteria. [Sun Media]