Game Night Results

End of the road?

TB-2
TOR-4

Mathieu Garon allowed 3 goals on 18 shots for the loss. Anders Lindback relieved Garon and allowed 1 on 8 shots, but left with the dreaded lower body injury in the Third Period. It's unfortunate considering how well Lindback has played of late.

First Period
06:56 TOR Lupul (3), (Kadri, Gunnarsson)

Second Period
00:52 TOR Phaneuf (5), (Gannarsson, Kadri)
06:53 TOR Bozak (8), (Kessel, Fraser)
07:22 TOR Kulemin (4), (Kadri, Lupul)

Third Period
07:44 TB Gudas (1), (Labrie, Crombeen)
17:02 TB Conacher (8), (Johnson, St. Louis)

It's hard not to wonder if that Second Period was the death knell for the season. The team actually didn't look that bad, especially in the First Period when Stamkos' line was sort of having their way. But, the passes were just not crisp tonight and that led to turnovers around their own blueline that led to goals against. It's a tale as old as time.

Alex Killorn was -2 with 2 penalty minutes, 2 shots, and 2 hits in 15:03.

Tyler Johnson had a helper and was +1 with 1 shot, 3 hits, and 2 blocked shots in 15:26.

Ondrej Palat had 3 shots and 4 hits in 14:07.

Radko Gudas had his first NHL goal/point and was +1 with 3 shots, 2 hits, and 2 blocked shots in 18:46. Well done young man.

Pierre-Cedric Labrie had a helper for his first NHL point of this season and he was +1 with 1 shot and 3 hits in 9:14.

Cory Conacher had the goal in front of the home area crowd and was -1 with 2 penalty minutes, 3 shots, 2 hits, and 1 blocked shot in 17:56.

When/if Steve Yzerman makes the decision the playoffs are too improbable for the Lightning, one wonders if players like Johnson, Palat, and Gudas may be ticketed back for Syracuse to get another taste of a deep AHL playoff run in preparation for next season.

Box score and extended statistics for NHL.com.

KHL Playoffs (Russia):

Eastern Conference
(1)Kazan 4 vs. (5)Ufa 3
Kazan Wins the Series 4-3
Andrey Vasilevskiy, Ufa, DNP
Playoff totals: 0 GP, 0-0-0, 0 SO, 0.00 GAA, 1.000 sv%
Regular season totals (KHL): 8 GP, 4-1-0, 1 SO, 2.22 GAA, .924 sv%
Regular season totals (MHL): 27 GP, 20-6-1, 3 SO, 1.93 GAA, .930 sv%

Ex-NHLer Nikolai Zherdev had a goal as Kazan squeaked by Ufa in a 4-3 Game Seven triumph to advance to the KHL Eastern Conference Finals. Ex-NHLer Brent Sopel had a goal in defeat for Ufa. Lightning prospect netminder Andrey Vasilevskiy did not play in the playoffs, and speculation will now turn toward his potential signing with the club. His junior club remains alive in the MHL playoffs, so it is possible he re-joins his former team.

Kazan advances to play Chelyabinsk and the last Lightning prospect survivor in the KHL playoffs, Nikita Nesterov. Game One is slated for Saturday. SKA St. Petersburg and Dynamo Moscow are facing off in the Western Finals.

Dammit, they're making me love them again.

PHI-2
TB-4

Anders Lindback allowed 2 goals on 30 shots for the victory.

First Period
06:38 TB Palat (2), (Tyrell, Salo)
13:55 PHI Talbot (4), (Meszaros)
17:03 TB Pyatt (6), (Johnson, Hedman)

Second Period
15:21 PHI Giroux (9), (unassisted)

Third Period
09:25 TB Purcell (6), (Aulie, Stamkos)
19:57 TB Stamkos (21), (Killorn, St. Louis)(EN)

Ryan Malone and Anders Lindback were the game's first and second stars.

I know they're probably going to just break my heart, but this team is suddenly fun to watch again. The speed and enthusiasm all the young players are bringing to the table has become infectious. And, more to the point, the way the team played in the second half of this game sure did give the impression this team may have finally figured out how to win a close game. There was one forechecking shift by the Thompson/Crombeen line in the Third Period that was as fine a shift as any by the Dingman/Cibak/Afanasenkov line circa 2004.

Alex Killorn had a helper and a shot in 16:16.

Tyler Johnson had a helper and was +2 with 2 hits in 12:12. He was also 100% on draws again.

Ondrej Palat had the game opening goal and was +1 with 1 shot and 4 hits in 10:24.

Radko Gudas was +1 with 2 penalty minutes, 1 shot, and a big 7 hits in 14:51.

Cory Conacher was -1 with 2 shots and 1 blocked shot in 11:09. He almost had a very cool assist late in the game that was called back for playing a puck above his shoulders. Really close play.

Box score and extended statistics from NHL.com.

Florida Everblades 2 @ South Carolina Stingrays 4

W Alex Hutchings, FLA: 1-1-2, +3, 4 SOG, 0 PIM
Season totals: 40 GP, 14-20-34, E, 30 PIM

D Charles Landry, FLA: 0-0-0, -1, 0 SOG, 0 PIM
Season totals: 45 GP, 4-11-15, +4, 27 PIM

F Maxime Langelier-Parent, FLA: Did not play
Season totals: 3 GP, 2-1-3, -3, 5 PIM
(Syracuse Crunch contract)

D Daniel Milan, FLA: 0-0-0, +1, 0 SOG, 0 PIM
Season totals: 42 GP, 2-6-8, +5, 56 PIM

D Pat Nagle, FLA: Did not play
Season totals: 31 GP, 14-9-3, 3.02 GAA, 787 S / 882 SA (.904 SV%)

Florida, which narrowly outshot South Carolina 25-22 for the match, scored just a minute into overtime to take sole possession of 2nd-place in the South Division. The Everblades continue to trail division-leading Gwinnett, which won its fourth-straight game Sunday, by four points and now have a tenuous one-point lead over both South Carolina and Greenville. Alex Hutchings had a big night, registering his first points since returned from Syracuse. Hutchings, who opened the game's scoring late in the first period, struck after he planted himself outside the paint and put his stick on a centering feed from Mathieu Roy. He also had the secondary assist on Mike Ratchuk's game-winner in overtime. Pat Nagle sat in favor of Jesse Deckert, who stopped 19 of 22 shots to boost his record to 4-0-1 withe the Everblades. Florida (34-21-11, 79 PTS) next plays host to Cincinnati (40-18-8, 88 PTS), which has already clinched the North Division, on Friday.

Official Recap | Box Score