Tampa Bay Lightning Drop The Gloves And Road Opener

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Jan 21, 2013; Uniondale, NY, USA; New York Islanders defenseman Joe Finley (52) and Tampa Bay Lightning left wing Pierre-Cedric Labrie (76) fight during the first period at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

One second into the game, the gloves were dropped like the game. ‘Nacho’ – Pierre-Cedric Labire didn’t disappoint in his Downie-style reputation. B.J. Crombeem and Labrie both opened the game with fights as soon as the dropped. Chris Dingman on Lightning Live keeps asking “Did Vinny win the opening face-off?” Who knows? All attention was turned to the fights! Which, by the way, was not shown live as the ref dropped it too early. He didn’t realize that the television was still on commercial.

During the first two periods the Lightning didn’t appear to show the same enthusiasm as they did on Saturday. The New York Islanders opened up the third period by scoring their 4th goal, making the score 4-0. Anders Lindback still looked great in goal, he let in 4, however, the Islanders out shot the Lightning by ridiculous numbers at that point. Finally, Martin St. Louis opened up the scoring for the Bolts and brought it up to 4-1. Benoit Pouliot followed, then Steven Stamkos. Towards the end they had a 3 on 5, with the Islanders having the 2 man advantage. Anders held them off, and they ended the last minute on a 1 man penalty kill. The final score was 4-3, New York. Let’s hope that the Lightning do not lose their momentum already, for they had a great 3rd period. If they would have played like that in the first two periods, this would have been an amazing game. The Islanders are fast, like puck ninjas. Too many turn overs. The Lightning were out played by a talented team, plain and simple. There is no reason to feel ashamed, as they gave it their all in the third, and you can well bet that they will try much harder tomorrow night. I would hate to be in that locker room with Coach Boucher right now. What a way to over shadow Vincent Lecavalier’s 1,000th game! Here’s the numbers:

First Period

Scoring: None

00:01	TBL	B.J. Crombeen : Fighting (maj) - 5 min
00:01	TBL	Pierre-Cedric Labrie : Fighting (maj) - 5 min
00:01	TBL	Ryan Malone : Unsportsmanlike conduct - 2 min
00:01	NYI	Colin McDonald : Unsportsmanlike conduct - 2 min
00:01	NYI	Joe Finley : Fighting (maj) - 5 min
00:01	NYI	Matt Martin : Fighting (maj) - 5 min
00:55	TBL	Eric Brewer : Delaying the game - 2 min
06:53	NYI	David Ullstrom : Hi-sticking - 2 min
14:04	NYI	Matt Carkner : Interference - 2 min

Second Period

02:05	TBL	Brian Lee : Cross checking - 2 min
05:14	TBL	Cory Conacher : Tripping - 2 min
05:38	TBL	Eric Brewer : Hooking - 2 min

06:50

NYI

PPG - Michael Grabner (1) Tip-In – Assists: M. Streit (1) & E. Nabokov (1)

14:16

NYI

Matt Martin : Holding - 2 min

16:23	NYI	Matt Martin (1) Wrist Shot – Assists: J. Tavares (1)
17:35	NYI	Kyle Okposo (1) Snap Shot – Assists: J. Tavares (2) & M. Moulson (1)

19:07

TBL

Keith Aulie : Cross checking - 2 min

Third Period

01:31	NYI	David Ullstrom (1) Wrist Shot – Assists: K. Aucoin (1) & T. Hamonic (1)
02:22	TBL	Martin St Louis (3) Wrist Shot – Assists: S. Stamkos (3) & C. Conacher (2)
07:26	TBL	Benoit Pouliot (1) Wrist Shot – Assists: B. Crombeen (1) & A. Hall (1)
08:00	TBL	Steven Stamkos (1) Snap Shot – Assists: C. Conacher (3) & M. St Louis (2)

17:32	TBL	Nate Thompson : Holding - 2 min
18:13	TBL	Brian Lee : Holding - 2 min

SHOTS ON GOAL

1st

2nd

3rd

	7	8	11	26
	10	17	18	45

SAVES

	Goalies	Total	Sv%	TOI
TBL ›	39 - Lindback	40 – 44	.909	59:40
TBL ›	39 - Lindback	40 – 44	.909	59:40
NYI ›	20 – Nabokov	23 – 26	.885	60:00
NYI ›	20 – Nabokov	23 – 26	.885	60:00