Aulie, Keith

Seems like the Lightning may have let all the air out at the home finale.

TB-2
MTL-5

Sebastien Caron allowed 5 goals on 25 shots for the loss. Not a good effort for a guy looking for an NHL gig next season.

First Period
MTL Emelin (3), (Desharnais, Budaj), 2:11
TB Lecavalier (22), (unassisted), 7:26

Second Period
MTL Cole (33), (Desharnais, Pacioretty), 1:42
MTL Cole (34), (Plekanec, Markov)(PP), 14:34

Third Period
TB Gervais (6), (Wallace, Hedman), 3:42
MTL Pacioretty (31), (Gorges, Plekanec), 5:58
MTL Pacioretty (32), (Subban), 14:57

It makes me ill to see David Desharnais do so well and to know we had him in camp and the only thing we were willing to offer him at the time was a 3-way deal in the Coast. Painful. It was obvious years ago he had this in him.

Vincent Lecavalier has scored 373 goals in his NHL career, and probably none were easier than that gift from Budaj. That was pitiful.

Keith Aulie was -1 with 1 hit in 11:10.

J.T. Brown was +1 with 3 shots, 1 hit, and 2 blocked shots in 14:56.

J.T. Wyman was +1 with 2 hits in 9:52.

Box score and extended statistics from NHL.com.

"To the last, I will grapple with thee... from Hell's heart, I stab at thee! For hate's sake, I spit my last breath at thee!"

WSH-2
TB-4

Dwayne Roloson allowed 2 goals on 33 shots for the victory.

First Period
NO SCORING

Second Period
WSH Semin (20), (Perrault), 12:47
TB Purcell (21), (Stamkos, St. Louis)(PP), 17:20
TB Hedman (5), (Thompson, Pyatt), 17:45

Third Period
WSH Chimera (20), (Semin), 16:43
TB Stamkos (57), (Clark, Lee), 18:57
TB Stamkos (58), (Thompson, Brewer)(EN), 19:59

Roloson, Steven Stamkos, and Tom Pyatt were the game's three stars. This young man Stamkos, he might be good at this hockey thing. I think he could make a career of it.

I loathe the Caps. I loathe their fans. I loathe their players. I loathe the Ovechtrick. I loathe the lack of respect they have for their own talents. I loathe their lack of respect for the game they play. I even loathe their lack of respect for their own coaches. I hate missing the playoffs, but if we have to, sticking a harpoon in the Caps' playoff hopes is a decent consolation prize. Loved burying them in the playoffs last season. Love putting them in jeopardy of missing the playoffs this year.

Keith Aulie was -2 with 4 hits in 12:11. And, old Aulie returneth.

J.T. Brown had 5 shots and 1 blocked shot in 11:45. That move. In the third period. You know the one I'm talking about. The spin-o-rama from behind the cage for the stuff attempt in front. That's something you try in a summer roller hockey league. Few players have the creativity or the guts to try that in a pro game. Have mercy. Gotta get at least 15 pounds of muscle on this young man, but he has the talent.

J.T. Wyman (pictured, but not really) was +1 with 1 shot and 2 hits in 15:27.

Box score and extended statistics from NHL.com.

Impressive debuts and #91 with a hammer.

WPG-2
TB-3 (OT)

Sebastien Caron made his first start in a Lightning jersey and was excellent stopping 26 of 28 for the victory. Let him play out the season and earn himself an NHL contract somewhere for next season, I say.

First Period
TB Malone (19), (unassisted), 15:37

Second Period
WPG Miettinen (5), (Kane, Stuart), 6:20
WPG Wellwood (18), (Byfuglien, Stapleton), 9:28

Third Period
TB Malone (20), (Purcell, Hedman)(PP), 7:25

Overtime
TB Stamkos (56), (Lee), 0:45

Ryan Malone and Steven Stamkos were the game's first and third stars. Congratulations to Ryan Malone, who raced from 15 to 20 goals in the hockey equivalent of a blink of an eye this week. It'd be fun to see what Malone could do if he could stay healthy for an entire season. Stamkos, for his part, sets a new NHL record with 5 overtime game winning goals in a season, as he continues his push to get to 60 goals. Pretty cool.

What I really enjoyed about this game was the way the young players received opportunities and showed something. Brett Connolly looked good, Victor Hedman kept up his points streak and got in a little scrap, and I'll write about J.T. Brown in a bit. Even Keith Aulie had a pretty positive game, in my mind, and it seemed like Brendan Mikkelson got to play a ton, too. Oh, and Brian Lee was damned impressive with 6 hits tonight. You're seeing a lot of good young pieces playing well in both Tampa Bay and in Norfolk, and you've got the best young player in the game in Steven Stamkos. Mix in another lottery pick, and this season's going to seem like a minor pothole in the grand scheme of things. My only regret is that, in beating Winnipeg, the team may have lost an opportunity to get into the top 5-6 picks of this draft. Some scouting organizations judge this a 5 player draft, as far as impact players go. I judge it a 5+1 or 2, right now, especially given the situation with Sarnia's Alex Galchenyuk losing so much time to injury this year, a la Connolly in his draft year. And I still want that little, mean-spirited Dan Boyle clone from Red Deer. The Lightning would be picking 9th now, pending the outcome of the lottery drawing, based on my quick look at the standings. Maybe they can get the ping pong balls to bounce their way and still move up 4 spots into the top-5.

Aulie had 1 shot and 3 hits in 13:37. He was good tonight. I know, I was surprised, too. He was physical. He had some interesting little offensive zone forays. He wasn't a pylon. That was more like it. And, you can now tell your children where you were when Keith Aulie finally broke the 13 minute barrier in a game that wasn't completely out of hand.

J.T. Wyman had 4 penalty minutes and 1 shot in 7:26. Old J.T. overshadowed by new J.T.

J.T. Brown had 2 shots in 13:33 in his NHL debut. Color me impressed. He's a very, very good skater and he showed some decent early chemistry with both Vincent Lecavalier and Brett Connolly, and those are two players that aren't the easiest to read off of because they're both creative stickhandlers. He looked pretty responsible defensively in terms of his positioning, too. You can tell he was well coached at Minnesota-Duluth. I don't know if he can be as physically active at 170 pounds in the NHL as he was in college, but I'm looking forward to him getting on the Steven Stamkos training regime this offseason and seeing him add that element into his game next year, because his college film will remind you of Jeremy Roenick, at times. That was a quality signing.

Box score and extended statistics from NHL.com.

Hard to waste a hat trick.

TB-4
NJ-6

Dwayne Roloson allowed 6 goals on 34 shots for the loss before giving way to Sebastien Caron who stopped all 4 shots he faced the rest of the way.

First Period
TB Malone (16), (Stamkos, Hedman), 19:16

Second Period
NJ Zubrus (17), (Elias)(SH), 3:07
TB Malone (17), (Brewer), 4:40
NJ Josefson (2), (Carter, Clarkson), 6:54
TB Malone (18), (Hedman), 10:13
NJ Kovalchuk (33), (Henrique, Parise), 13:26
NJ Zidlicky (2), (Kovalchuk, Elias)(PP), 14:37

Third Period
NJ Ponikarovsky (13), (Salvador), 2:25
NJ Clarkson (29), (Ponikarovsky, Henrique), 6:05
TB Smith (2), (Wallace, Aulie), 19:51

Ryan Malone was the game's second star. Good for him to give himself a fighting chance to get to 20 goals by the season's end.

It's good to have Vincent Lecavalier back.

As of this minute, the Lightning would pick 9th, but they're in a 4-way tie with Anaheim, the Islanders, and Carolina at 77 points. So, they could easily be in 6th position soon, and they're just 2 points ahead of Toronto, which would pick 5th. There's a certain defenseman from Red Deer I think is going 4th or 5th, at the latest, in this draft. So, while losing stinks, it might be for a good purpose.

Keith Aulie had a helper and 2 hits in 11:58.

Trevor Smith had a goal, 1 shot, and 2 hits in 16:01.

J.T. Wyman had 2 hits in 16:56. Smith and Wyman are legitimate contenders, along with about a half dozen other forwards, for a spare number of spots on the Lightning in camp next season, in my opinion. We'll see another contender, J.T. Brown, make his debut this weekend.

Box score and extended statistics from NHL.com.

Tough draw on back to back nights.

TB-2
BOS-5

Dwayne Roloson allowed 4 goals on 37 shots for the loss.

First Period
TB Stamkos (54), (St. Louis), 5:03
BOS Thornton (5), (Chara), 10:54

Second Period
BOS Seidenberg (4), (Chara, Krejci), 15:05

Third Period
TB Stamkos (55), (Hedman, St. Louis)(PP), 5:46
BOS Pouliot (14), (Rolston, Chara), 11:34
BOS Marchand (26), (Bergeron, Seguin), 15:50
BOS Peverley (10), (Krejci)(EN), 19:53

Steven Stamkos was the game's second star. He might be good.

Keith Aulie had 4 penalty minutes in 7:30.

Trevor Smith was -1 in 13:57.

J.T. Wyman had 1 hit and 1 blocked shot in 14:42.

Pierre-Cedric Labrie was -1 with 2 hits in 6:14.

Box score and extended statistics from NHL.com.