By Jeremy Houghtaling

As he waits for his first win behind the Syracuse Crunch bench, Rob Zettler has gone through a range of emotions.

He’s excited and energetic, and comfortable yet anxious. Although his tenure has started with three straight losses, he knows it hasn’t stemmed from a lack of trying.

“These guys all want to win as much as I do,” Zettler said of his team. “I'm not worried about their effort. I'm not worried about how they played. We just have to find a way to get the W."

Bishop making Yzerman look like a genius.

TB-5
CAR-0

Ben Bishop stopped all 45 shots he faced for the shutout after being acquired from Ottawa in exchange for Cory Conacher. That's quite the debut for a goaltender who is the latest to be tasked with trying to close the gaping hole left since Nikolai Khabibulin shuffled off to Chicago many moons ago. I do like the deal Yzerman made. After a red hot first 7 games in the NHL, Conacher had cooled off greatly in the 28 games since and was not having the impact on a shift-to-shift basis some of the other rookies were having. He's not chopped liver, mind you, but he also was probably never going to have higher trade value and Yzerman knew that. Leveraging that asset for a true NHL goaltender is shrewd.

First Period
NO SCORING

Second Period
00:28 TB Purcell (8), (Carle)
15:55 TB Pyatt (8), (Killorn, Brewer)
19:17 TB Aulie (2), (Stamkos, St. Louis)

Third Period
02:24 TB St. Louis (9), (Pouliot, Carle)
07:30 TB Pouliot (7), (Stamkos, St. Louis)

Bishop, Martin St. Louis, and Benoit Pouliot were the game's three stars.

For anyone who thinks Victor Hedman isn't important to this team, look what happened tonight with him out with a lower body injury early. 45 shots against and Bishop really having to bust it to save the Lightning's bacon. Hurry back soon #77. Also, we'll see if Vincent Lecavalier manages to get back into the lineup too after also leaving in his return from the shelf. I did really like Coach Cooper's thought of putting the vet between two potential stars like Connolly and Panik, and I'd love to see them get back to it.

So it's not all roses in a 5-0 win, but good goaltending has a way of making everything look better.

Alex Killorn had a helper and was +2 with 2 shots and 1 blocked shot in 18:33.

Tyler Johnson had 3 hits and 1 blocked shot and was 40% on draws in 10:42.

Richard Panik had 2 shots and 1 hit in 13:28.

Radko Gudas was +1 with 4 penalty minutes, 4 hits, and 1 blocked shot in 20:34.

Box score and extended statistics from NHL.com.

KHL Playoffs (Russia):

Eastern Conference Finals
(1)Kazan 1 vs. (3)Chelyabinsk 2
Chelyabinsk Wins the Series 4-3
Nikita Nesterov, Chelyabinsk, 0-0-0, E, 0 PIM, 0 SOG
Playoff totals: 13 GP, 0-3-3, -1, 6 PIM
Regular season totals (KHL): 35 GP, 0-1-1, +6, 14 PIM
Regular season totals (MHL): 2 GP, 0-0-0, E, 0 PIM

Andrei Kostitsyn's goal with just 29 seconds left in regulation advanced Chelyabinsk to the Gagarin Cup Finals by virtue of their 2-1, Game Seven win over Kazan. Kostitsyn also had a helper in the match. The club completed a comeback from a 3-1 hole in the series against the top seed in the conference. Lightning prospect Nikita Nesterov played a sparing 4:08 in the match for Traktor.

Game One of the Gagarin Cup Finals is set for Sunday between Chelyabinsk and Western Conference Champions Dynamo Moscow.

Ontario Hockey League

(E3)Oshawa Generals 3 @ (E2)Barrie Colts 4 (OT)
Barrie leads best-of-7 Eastern Conference Semifinals, 1-0

D Jake Dotchin, BAR: 0-0-0, -1, 0 PIM
Playoff totals: 5 GP, 0-2-2, +2, 10 PIM
Season totals: 66 GP, 4-18-22, E, 81 PIM
With Barrie: 28 GP, 2-6-8, -1, 42 PIM
With Owen Sound: 38 GP, 2-12-14, +1, 39 PIM

Jake Dotchin had a few big hits and Barrie scored on their first shot of overtime as the Colts won Game 1 against Oshawa, 4-3. Barrie’s game-winner was scored by Zach Hall (undrafted). Game 2 is Friday.

We continue our Prospect of the Week award, an honor (virtually) given to one Tampa Bay Lightning prospect for their recent contributions on and off the ice.

The Prospect of the Week for April 3 is … Matthew Peca, W, Quinnipiac (NCAA – USA).

Matt Peca made sure his Quinnipiac Bobcats would advance to the Frozen Four in their first national tournament last week.