With a happy hour start time (and several team-sponsored happy hours around the area today), I can’t help but take a casual approach to today’s Tampa Bay Lightning/Philadelphia Flyers game, set to begin at 5:00.

Something about the early start, rescheduled to accommodate the resumption of the New York Yankees’ ungodly reign over the sports world Game 4 of the World Series, has me in kick-the-feet-up, crack-a-cold-one-and-relax mode already, three-plus hours ahead of the opening faceoff.

Of course, the Bolts can’t afford any such laid back stance toward their Philly phoes – not unless they want a similar result to that of Saturday’s Halloween snoozer with the Devils.

But I can afford to be casual and that’s exactly what I intend to do for both tonight’s game and this post, where I’m literally throwing together a hodgepodge of random thoughts and observations for your perusal.

***The Lightning are still searching for their first road win of the season, after an 0-3-1 start away from the St. Pete Times Forum. Things have been pretty pleasant at home but road woes can really hamper a team in the long run and the Lightning will want to pick up some points on someone else’s turf as soon as possible. Only the Carolina Hurricanes (0-5-2) join the Lightning as winless on the road this season.

***Another game, another new line for Vincent Lecavalier, it appears. Practicing alongside Drew Miller and Stephane Veilleux, it looks like the Lightning captain will skate with new linemates once again, in an effort to tidy up his all-around game.

He does have 10 points so far but, with nine of them coming as assists, the concerns about Lecavalier’s offensive production have been there all season. Now, on top of the worry about that solitary goal of his, the rest of Vinny’s game is starting to draw negative attention.

Video evidence of Lecavalier appearing to shy away from physical contact hit the NHL Network’s airwaves recently and, clearly, it didn’t get by the Lightning’s coaching staff in their video review of the New Jersey game either. Tonight, seeing time on the Miller/Veilleux line could be looked at as punishment, tutelage or maybe a little bit of both. (It’s not to spark his offense, though. Not with two assists total between Miller and Veilleux.)

Any way you look at it, something’s up with the big guy. To me, he just looks a step or two behind out there this year; not physically, really, as in a step or two slower than in his better days, but just kind of blah overall. (How’s that for witty description, eh? Whatever. It’s Monday.) Actually, it’s the same way he looked for much of last season, which is baffling when you factor in just how badly he wants to put all that distracted him a year ago behind him.

To want, naturally, is one thing. To do, on the other hand, is quite another. Even so, Lecavalier seemed (seems?) determined to bring his game back to the superstar level where it once was – aggressive, confident, dominant, dictating the play, impacting on every shift … A game-changer.

You know. Like Steven Stamkos?

***Forget Lecavalier’s linemates-of-the-day and forget even the reunited top Lightning line of Stamkos, Martin St. Louis and Ryan Malone. Tonight’s line to watch might just be the consistently effective fourth line of Todd Fedoruk, Zenon Konopka and Steve Downie. These three have done nothing but, oh, exactly what you’d want a fourth line to do: win faceoffs, change the momentum, bang bodies, battle in the corners, play responsible defense and even chip in the odd goal or two.

Against a Flyers squad back to playing their trademarked physical style, maybe some added ice time is in store for this gritty trio?

***@NHLsecrets is a great source of information on Twitter that I suggest you all follow. (Here’s a direct link.) Over the weekend, this was passed along and I gave it the old re-tweet thereafter, to help spread the message:

“We are going to find someone to buy into the Lightning to help out Oren (Koules). He’s a solid owner who made a bad choice with Len Barrie. Len is out.”

I have stood firm from the beginning, saying here on this very blog, on XM 204 and, really, to anyone who’s asked that the Lightning ownership situation will eventually be resolved with far less drama involved than most expect. So, when I see something along those very lines echoed elsewhere, of course I’m going to get behind it.

Aside from a spattering of media yay-hoos with unfounded agendas, support for Koules from NHL powers has been consistent.

On the other side of things? Not so much …

Like my father always says, “When you hang out with fleas, you get fleas!” (Dad’s butchering of tried and true idioms is classic and one of my favorite quips about my idol.)

***Took in Saturday’s game from the stands with the family and a couple of friends in tow for the second time in as many years. (Gotta say … There’s a little bit about that I do miss.) Despite my prior “snoozer” description, we were anything but bored, enjoying each and every one of the Lightning’s three shots on goal in the first period.

Seriously, I do enjoy watching a game in the crowd with my little boy. Nothing like trying to figure out if he’s actually following the play in front of him or if he’s just transfixed by the bright, white ice in front of him. In hoping he’ll turn out to be as big a hockey freak as his old man, I’ll go with the former.

One thing that definitively came out of our second game experience together is that the little guy is no longer afraid of the goal horn. Last season, it completely freaked him out, just shy of four months old (as it did this summer during a Young Guns Camp scrimmage). On Saturday, he took it in stride when Stamkos tallied his tenth of the season and didn’t seem to mind the blaring horn at all.

He’s growing up so fast! (Sniffle, sniffle …)

***Mike Smith is back in goal for the Lightning tonight, at least partially spoiling Antero Niittymaki’s return trip to Philadelphia. Niitty was a bright spot for Tampa Bay on Saturday and has been in all of his starts this season.

On a completely unrelated note, Smith will need a fourth straight solid start for those first road points of the season to come tonight.

***News from Norfolk will run in abbreviated fashion, along with notes on tonight’s game and a preview for tomorrow’s tilt in Toronto, in the morning. (With one game to recap – one in which the Admirals were shut out, no less – there won’t be much on which to elaborate anyway.)

JJ

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