The Tampa Bay Lightning currently sit in third in the Eastern Conference with 81 points, just a mere five points behind Philadelphia for the Conference lead. But they haven't looked very good recently and are riding a two game losing streak into the weekend. The latest defeat came last night at the hands of the Boston Bruins. According to out Lightning blog, Raw Charge, the Lightning didn't give goaltender Mike Smith very much support.
Overall, though, the Lightning didn't give Smith too much of a chance to win. It was a good and hard fought game, and they had 28 shots on goal, but it didn't seem like there were that many legitimate scoring chances. The team appeared to be a bit out of sync at times.
But they were impressed with the newest member of the Lightning Eric Brewer, particularly his ability to step into a leadership role early in his Tampa Bay career.
I realize that Brewer had been captain of the St. Louis Blues when he was traded. But often new players will try to stay in the background their first season with a new team. And on top of that, no one wants to appear disrespectful by appearing to step into the captain's spot, even when he's out of the lineup. So for Brewer to do that was a pleasant surprise.
The Lightning will have a chance to bounce back on Saturday against the Montreal Canadiens, who sit just three spots behind them in the standings. We'll be updating this stream with all the news you need to know leading up to, and updates throughout, the game on Saturday.