Tampa Bay Lightning

Bishop smacks down his ex-team.

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Ben Bishop allowed 2 goals on 33 shots for the victory against his old mates. Cory Conacher? 1 shot on goal in 15:22. Decision: Steve Yzerman. Flawless victory.

First Period
14:29 OTT Alfredsson (9), (Turris, Phillips)

Second Period
02:35 TB Labrie (1), (Thompson, Crombeen)
04:28 TB Lecavalier (9), (Purcell, St. Louis)(PP)

Third Period
00:21 OTT Latendresse (6), (Turris, Wiercioch)
14:56 TB Stamkos (26), (Lecavalier, St. Louis)(PP)

Vincent Lecavalier, Sami Salo, and The Secret Weapon, Pierre-Cedric Labrie were the game's three stars. Lecavalier is now over a point a game since coming back from the broken foot. It's a shame we'll never know what kind of season he could've had if he hadn't tried to play on a bad wheel for a month.

Old man Alfredsson retiring won't cost me any tears. The man's been cutting our hearts out for years.

Mark Barberio was -1 with 1 shot in 14:12 in his NHL debut. 4 giveaways. Oof.

Alex Killorn had 1 shot and 1 blocked shot in 22:13.

Tyler Johnson was -1 with 1 shot and was 75% on draws in 11:49.

Richard Panik was -1 with 1 shot and 3 hits in 9:37.

Radko Gudas was +1 with 1 shot, 4 hits, and 1 blocked shot in 15:05.

Pierre-Cedric Labrie scored his first NHL goal and was +1 with 2 penalty minutes, 1 shot, 6 hits, and 1 blocked shot in 8:30. Check the man's shooting percentage. Sniper. (Tongue firmly in cheek.)

Box score and extended statistics from NHL.com.

In the old days of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Mark Barberio may be a 2-year veteran at this point in his career.

The Lightning had little organizational depth and if prospects showed flashes of NHL ability, they were called up to the big club and thrown to the proverbial wolves.

When new general manager Steve Yzerman took over, he changed all that, and Barberio is a prime example of his player development philosophy.

TAMPA BAY – The Tampa Bay Lightning have recalled defenseman Mark Barberio from the Syracuse Crunch of the American Hockey League, vice president and general manager Steve Yzerman announced today. Additionally, defenseman Matt Taormina has been reassigned to the Crunch

Barberio, 23, has played in 70 games this season with the Crunch, posting eight goals and 40 points to go along with 44 penalty minutes and a plus-7 rating. He ranks third for assists (32) and fifth for points among AHL defensemen. The Montreal, Quebec native leads all Crunch defensemen in goals, assists and points. Of his eight goals this season, five have been recorded while on the man-advantage.

The 6-foot-1, 185-pound defenseman has skated in 212 career AHL games with the Crunch and Norfolk Admirals, posting 30 goals and 132 points with 111 penalty minutes. Last season, while playing for the Admirals, Barberio won the Eddie Shore Award as the AHL’s top defenseman. He was also part of the Admirals team that won the Calder Cup, registering two goals and nine points in 18 games during the playoffs.

Barberio was drafted by the Lightning in the sixth round, 152nd overall, of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.

End of the road?

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Ben Bishop allowed 3 goals on 37 shots for the loss. We're starting to see what the book is on Bishop now. He's tough as nails to score on in close but may be a little more vulnerable from long range a la Martin Brodeur and a few other bigger-sized goaltenders. I've been pleasantly surprised how he handles himself as a puck handler, on top of that.

First Period
01:52 TB Lecavalier (8), (St. Louis, Salo)

Second Period
03:14 WSH Ovechkin (24), (Hillen, Backstrom)
06:37 TB Killorn (7), (Lecavalier, Carle)
12:54 WSH Carlson (6), (Ward, Hillen)
16:21 WSH Ward (8), (Perrault, Chimera)

Third Period
19:55 WSH Ovechkin (25), (Ribiero)(EN)

Vincent Lecavalier was the game's third star. He has 3 points in 3 games since returning from the broken foot.

It's a tough, tough way to see your season possibly slip away. The past 2 nights saw a pair of 1 goal games that could've easily gone the other way, and just 1 or 2 mistakes and bad bounces made the difference. It's a shame, and the kind of thing that should keep these guys up at nights during the offseason. My biggest regret is that the outcome of these games may very well have gone the other way had Victor Hedman been in the lineup. Again, it's a shame.

The Lightning's divisional deficit grows back to 8 points, with seemingly not enough games left to close the gap.

Alex Killorn had a beautiful goal and was -1 with 2 shots in 16:19.

Matt Taormina was -1 with 1 hit and 2 blocked shots in 16:52.

Tyler Johnson had 1 shot, 1 hit, and was 58% on draws in 11:15.

Richard Panik was -1 with 1 blocked shot in 13:15. The guy has got to quit giving away the puck in the neutral zone. It's a career killing bad habit.

Radko Gudas was -1 with 2 shots and 7 hits in 19:26.

Box score and extended statistics from NHL.com.

This is a tough one to take.

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Ben Bishop allowed 3 goals on 27 shots for the loss. It's a tough way to lose on a strange goal that will no doubt stick in Bishop's craw for a little while.

First Period
13:45 NYI Grabner (12), (Tavares)

Second Period
04:44 TB Panik (2), (Lecavalier, Carle)

Third Period
04:00 TB Carle (4), (Stamkos, Pouliot)
13:34 NYI Martin (3), (Lee, Streit)
19:46 NYI MacDonald (3), (Bailey)(EN)

It's the first regulation loss of Jon Cooper's tenure in Tampa Bay. Matt Carle was named the game's third star.

Alex Killorn was -2 with 4 shots and 1 blocked shot in 22:02.

Matt Taormina had 4 hits and 1 blocked shot in 16:25. He's no Victor Hedman, but I thought he had a decent effort in his callup.

Tyler Johnson was -1 with 2 hits in 11:28.

Richard Panik hooked up with Vincent Lecavalier for a beautiful goal and was +1 with 1 shot and 10:08. The good was the quick release he showed on an amazing behind the back feed from Lecavalier. The bad came in the form of some questionable decisions Panik made with the puck in the neutral zone.

Radko Gudas was -1 with 2 penalty minutes, 1 shot, 2 hits, and 2 blocked shots in 13:20. Tonight was one of the rare nights Radko looked to me to have heavy legs. I was surprised.

Box score and extended statistics from NHL.com.