Photo Credit: Kim Klement-US PRESSWIRE

Happy Friday Bolts Nation!

We are now five days removed from the NHL All Star Break and have gladly welcomed back our Bolts in Blue to the ice of the Tampa Bay Times Forum, and what a exciting week of Tampa Hockey it has been.  The Lightning played two games this week against divisional foes, the Washington Capitals and the Winnipeg Jets, during which we saw both games go to overtime with different results.  On Tuesday’s game against the Capitals we watched as Steven Stamkos potted yet another OT winner, notching his 33rd league-leading goal of the season (For more on Stammer check out BBTB Lora Andrews’ recent piece on him).  On Thursday, we watched Kyle Wellwood score the OT winner for the Jets.  The Bolts snagged three points out of a possible four in those two games, which is never really a bad thing, but considering our current position in the standings,we cannot afford to give up a single point to divisional opponents, let alone conference opponents.  Except for some work to be done on passing and preventing turnovers, they were two very well played games.  There is still a long road ahead of the team in vying for a playoff spot, but if they can continue to improve on their fundamentals and the details of the game, making a spot no longer seems as much of a long shot as it did prior to the break.

Now that this week in Tampa Bay has been quickly recapped I would like to share some notable posts from around the FanSided-NHL Network. … [visit site to read more]

FanSided Friday: Bolts By The Bay Edition - Bolts by the Bay - Bolts by the Bay - A Tampa Bay Lightning Blog

Stamkos was selected by the league itself to participate as players from the Ottawa … [visit site to read more]

Stammer Selected As Sole Skater From Tampa For All-Star Game - Bolts by the Bay - Bolts by the Bay - A Tampa Bay Lightning Blog