Be sure to 'like' Hockeybuzz on Facebook!
So, everything and nothing is happening in regards to Tampa Bay Lightning captain
Steven Stamkos and his future with the club before the Feb. 29 trade deadline. One night after TSN’s Bob McKenzie projected the Buffalo Sabres as the favorite to land Stamkos this summer, the 26-year-old Stamkos added more fuel to the (speculation) fire when asked about waiving his no-trade before then.
From
TSN:
“I think the answer is we’ll cross that bridge at the time,” Stamkos said. “I don’t think it’s that time right [now]. So, I continue to come to the rink every day as the leader that I am and the teammate that everyone in this room knows that I am, and give my best effort. I’ve said that since Day 1 of training camp and that hasn’t changed.”
As I’ve said before, I just can’t see the Lightning moving Stamkos before the deadline. And if they did, it would have to be an absolutely monstrous package that by all means gives the Bolts an even better chance to win the Stanley Cup season than they’d have with Stamkos on their roster. In other words, it’d have to be a deal that simply blows GM Steve Yzerman off his feet and then some.
With this potentially being the Bolts’ last Stamkos-included postseason run, I think that the Lightning are entirely more in the business of loading up around No. 91 versus trading him out of town.
Lost in the newest Stamkos drama is of course the fact that the Lightning have a game tonight.
Back at Amalie Arena after a two-game trek to Ottawa and Montreal that came with two losses, one embarrassing and one hardfought,
Jon Cooper’s squad has to happy to be back in their home game, a building where they’ve won their last eight games, against the Nashville Predators.
“You just look at what happened to us, we just went for a little 48-hour respite and that’s it, we went in from number two in our division to one point to being out,” Cooper said of the Lightning’s two-game dip and fall back to fourth place in the Atlantic Division. “There’s just a sense of urgency that has to be with you now from here to all the way in. You have to be aware, you can’t leave points on the table.”
In net, the Bolts will give the start to
Ben Bishop. Bishop took the loss behind a 23-of-27 night against Montreal on Tuesday night, but enters play with 13 wins and a .927 save percentage in 22 home games this season. The 29-year-old is winless in three career games against the Preds, however, with an ugly 3.98 goals against average and .863 save percentage.
Nashville counters with
Pekka Rinne. The 6-foot-5 netminder took a loss in his last start, a Feb. 9 defeat at the hands of the Washington Capitals, after allowing four goals on 22 shots against. It’s been a tough year for the Finnish netminder, too, as he comes into action with just 20 wins and a .903 save percentage in 45 games this season. Rinne has been perfect against the Bolts in his career, though, with five wins and a .905 save percentage in five games against Tampa Bay.
The big milestone tonight is for Tampa Bay winger
Ryan Callahan, in the midst of a three-game point streak, who will play in his 600th NHL game tonight.
“To play that many games the way he plays the games, is pretty impressive,” Cooper said of Callahan. “He wears his heart on his sleeve, but he plays the hard minutes -- the corners, the front of the net, the blocking the shots -- and to keep up that pace and tenacity, it’s a feather in that kid’s cap.”
With defenseman
Jason Garrison out three-to-five weeks with a lower-body injury, the Bolts have called
Slater Koekkoek up from the American Hockey League.
Koekkoek has tallied four goals and 12 points in 43 games for the Syracuse Crunch this season, and has skated in four NHL games in his career, including one earlier this season.
Cooper would not commit to his lineup tonight, whether that meant 11 forwards and seven defensemen or 12 forwards and the normal six defenders.
Ty Anderson has been covering the National Hockey League for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010, has been a member of the Pro Hockey Writers Association's Boston Chapter since 2013, and can be contacted on Twitter, or emailed at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com.
Tampa Bay Lightning Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»