Michael_Stuart

"Covering Bolts Hockey "

" • Canada • 26 Years Old • Male

Simply Embarassing: Lightning Drop 5th Straight to Islanders

Simply embarrassing. To be honest, that’s the only way I can really sum up the last few games for the Lightning. When this little 3 games in 4 nights started, I said that three wins were very possible and that two was the absolute minimum. Well, the Lightning came out and delivered exactly 0 wins.

Losing to the Rangers? Okay that’s fine. Losing to the Senators? I suppose they are…alright. Losing the the Islanders? That’s just wrong. How did this team go from being a Stanley Cup contender at the start of the season to losing 5 games in a row. It’s pretty obvious that this team is playing with absolutely no confidence right now. Something needs to be done.

Over this little stretch, it’s become even more apparent that goaltending is a huge issue for this team moving forward. We’ve seen that Dwayne Roloson should have retired, but up until this point Garon has been moderately good. Tonight, that all changed. Garon was brutal tonight. This team needs a good, young goaltender to lead it into the future.

The core group of this team has to be a little strong. I’m not necessarily talking about on-ice play as I do believe that few players are as consistent and hard working as St. Louis and Stamkos, but off the ice. Things need to be said in that room to get this team going. You’d hate to think that Guy Boucher isn’t the guy to hold the meeting, but I think this is the players’ issue. Look at what Vancouver did last year after a loss to Chicago. There was a players only meeting in which guys stepped up and talked about what was going on. From there, they were the hottest team in the league. That needs to happen in Tampa.

I’m not going to dig too deeply into this whole losing streak as it pretty much speaks for itself. Things aren’t right with this team at this point. If you had asked me which team in the SE division would be 11-14-2 at this point in time I would have said the Winnipeg Jets. But hold on, wow, the Jets are ahead of the Lightning in the standings. Come on, that’s not acceptable.

With the way Washington is playing, this team should be the best team in the division by a mile. The Florida Panthers just aren’t as good as their record indicates.

Steve Yzerman needs to look down to the ice and realize that this team is in serious disarray. This isn’t the team that went on a nice run last season. This is a below 500 team. We can’t continue to give players opportunities that they aren’t deserving of. Any goaltending move would be welcomed at this point. Where is Tokarski? Why not bring him up for a chance to play.

If you can’t tell by the style of this blog, the Lightning’s play has me really upset. When you know a team should be much better than it is, it’s upsetting. At this point in time, with the mixed bag schedule to end the month, I’d be happy if the team could finish the month at .500. Have I lost faith in this team? No. I just don’t see them turning it around too quickly. Even if the team starts playing better, the goaltending is still a massive issue.

My final thought: WHY ISN’T ERIC BREWER SITTING IN THE PRESS BOX?

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