Tampa Bay Lightning

The Lightning torched the Thrashers young goaltenders as Nick Tarnasky and Evgeny Artyukhin made quiet NHL debuts each with just under 8 minutes of ice time a piece. Paul Ranger continued to settle into his job as the Lightning's #6 defenseman getting over 15 minutes of ice time and rating a +2 before receiving a vicious cheap shot elbow from a Thrasher forechecker. Vinny Lecavalier with a 4 point night. I hope a certain so-called editor from Hockey's Future enjoyed the game. [url=http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20052006/GS020100.HTM]I know I did.[/url]

The Springfield Falcons announced today that forwards Evgeny Artyukhin and Nick Tarnasky have been recalled by the Lightning. Both players will join the Lightning in Atlanta for Thursday night's game against the Thrashers.

The Lightning [url=http://www.tampabaylightning.com/tbl/prdetail.cfm?pressreleaseID=1175&category=2]have announced that Timo Helbling has been reassigned to Springfield[/url] by the Tampa Bay Lightning. This means Paul Ranger, who was impressive in weekend games against Pittsburgh and Washington, has secured the No.6 defenseman spot for the near future.

Although he has yet to score a goal this season for Khimik MO, Alexei Glukhov continues to build his reputation as one of the better young playmakers in Russia. Glukhov assisted on Khimik MO's lone goal today, a 1st period marker by Dimitry Kosmachev, as his club tied Salavat Yulayev 1-1. The assist is Glukhov's 7th of the season. That would've tied Anton But for the lead amongst Lightning prospects in Russia, but the left winger assisted on Alexei Vasiliyev's second period talley in a 3-2 loss to Kazan to record his 8th helper of the 2005-2006 campaign. For Togliatti, Vasily Koshechkin sat today as goaltender David Svoboda fell 2-1 to Omsk. Dimitry Kazionov did dress today and was held scoreless for Lada.

Erik Erlendsson in the Trib [url=http://bolts.tbo.com/lightning/MGBFYWK7WEE.html]reports no decision has been made yet to reassign either Timo Helbling or Paul Ranger back to Springfield.[/url] A decision must be made soon however with valuable cap room being eaten daily and the Springfield Falcons in desperate need of healthy bodies on defense.

If two teams play a hockey game and nobody is there to see it, does it make a sound? Geez, they might as well play in a mausoleum. TB-2 WSH-3 (Final-SO) The Lightning are not living up to billing in shootouts. The [url=http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20052006/GS020083.HTM]game sheet[/url] can be found at NHL.com. Jay Feaster vows to trim the roster to 20 after the game. Paul Ranger got his second taste of NHL action and the implicit message is that one of either Ranger or Helbling will be demoted after the game. For my money, Paul Ranger sealed his roster spot with a superb shift at the end of OT that could've easily resulted in the OT winner had Vincent Lecavalier finished.

TB-3 PIT-1 Paul Ranger did pretty darn well in his NHL debut. No big mistakes and he supported the play well all night long. 12:01 of ice time with 2 shots on goal and an even rating. Meanwhile, the top two scoring lines continue to show signs they are awaking from their slumber with a three point night for Vincent Lecavalier. Game sheet can be found [url=http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20052006/GS020077.HTM]via NHL.com.[/url]

According to the Springfield Falcons, the club announced today that defenseman Paul Ranger has been recalled by the Tampa Bay Lightning. Ranger will join Tampa Bay in Pittsburgh where the Lightning prepares to take on the Penguins on Saturday night. Ranger currently leads the Falcons in scoring after one game with one goal and two assists for three points, including the game-winning goal in the season opener on Saturday, October 8 against Portland. Ranger was named the game’s first star in that contest, and is in his second season of professional hockey. The 6-foot-2, 215-pound native of Whitby, Ontario played in 69 games for the Falcons last year collecting three goals and eight assists for 11 points. Ranger played his junior hockey with the Oshawa Generals of the Ontario Hockey League where he led all Oshawa blueliners in scoring during the 2003-04 campaign.

Despite the loss in the shootout, there were many positive signs in the game that the Lightning could possibly be returning to form. Buffalo could've easily lost this game by a wide margin were it not for Ryan Miller, some lopsided officiating and a little luck. BUF-4 TB-3 (Final SO) Official scoring can be found [url=http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20052006/GS020062.HTM]at NHL.com.[/url]

In the words of the godfather of soul, "My brother get ready, that's a fact! [url=http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20052006/GS020032.HTM]Get ready you mother... for the big pay back."[/url] FLA-1 TB-2 Crazy ending whereby some questionable officiating nearly handed the Panthers a point, however John Grahame was large. PantherNation will spin this as proof of their impending playoff ascendency, but I prefer to look at it as John Grahame being able to match the best young goaltender in the game, Luongo, pretty much save for save the past two nights. The Lightning's offense is going to eventually come around. It's an inevitability. Goaltending was the question mark and so far John Grahame has the answer.