Hard to waste a hat trick.
TB-4
NJ-6
Dwayne Roloson [5] allowed 6 goals on 34 shots for the loss before giving way to Sebastien Caron [6] 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 [7] 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 [8] 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 [9] had a helper and 2 hits in 11:58.
Trevor Smith [10] had a goal, 1 shot, and 2 hits in 16:01.
J.T. Wyman [11] 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 [12], make his debut this weekend.
Box score [13] and extended statistics [14] from NHL.com.