Restoring the Thunder - Tampa Bay Lightning Dynasty

[Keytosa]

I spent several hours editing the rosters to make the "Best Lines" feature that the CPU always does at the start of Be a GM more realistic by tweaking some ratings and positions. I also assured that the top prospects were in the game and the top projected players for the 2012 NHL draft were rated accordingly or added. I will be be playing every game using pm83's sliders, which are absolutely amazing! I'll keep the summaries relatively short as my time to play is limited. I'm a sim gamer and I will make realistic moves if necessary. Please follow along

The 2011-2012 season is under way for the Tampa Bay Lightning, under GM Steve Yzerman. Here's a recap of the preseason:

Carter Ashton really caught Yzerman's eye this preseason. He was physical, strong with the puck, and provided some scoring. He is going to make the NHL club this season, starting as a healthy scratch at forward. Prospects Panik, Kucherov and Namestnikov really showed some potential but are not NHL-ready. Kucherov and Namestnikov were sent back to juniors while Panik will play in the AHL. On defense, Barbiero played very well too, but will also start the season in the AHL.

After configuring the team's depth chart, GM Steve Yzerman saw no use for defenseman Bruno Gervais, trading him to Washington for a 2012 4th round pick.

Tampa Bay Lightning Opening Night Lines
	LW	C	RW
F1	St. Louis	Stamkos	Purcell
F2	Malone	Lecavalier	Connolly
F3	Thompson	Moore	Downie
F4	Shannon	Pyatt	Hall
D1	Kubina	Hedman
D2	Bergeron	Ohlund
D3	Brewer	Clark
Starter	Roloson
Backup	Garon

Injury Report
Pos	Player	Injury Note
LW	Matthais Ritola	Out 3 weeks with a strained hamstring (returns Oct. 14)

[Keytosa]

Game 1

Tampa Bay Lightning (0-0-0, 0 PTS) at Carolina Hurricanes (0-0-0, 0 PTS)

The Lightning kicked off their season in Carolina with a 4-1 defeat. Steven Stamkos found a loose puck and buried it in the back of the net for the Bolts, but they simply could not match the Hurricanes' energy and power play. Tedy Purcell took two penalties for Tampa, both resulting in goals for Carolina. The PK was 1/3 in the game. Dwayne Roloson had a less than stellar performance, stopping 24 of 28 shots. But it was not all his fault. Bad PKing, coupled with a few costly mistakes and a poor line change led to odd man rushes for the Canes. Next game is at Boston.

Player of the game: Steven Stamkos (1 goal)

Lineup changes: None

Coaching changes: Spend more time in the offensive zone; be more aware of passes in the defensive zone; no bad line changes

Game 2

Tampa Bay Lightning (0-1-0, 0 PTS) at Boston Bruins (0-1-0, 0 PTS)

Next, the Bolts squared off in Boston with the Bruins. Taking a early 1-0 lead on a Marc-Andre Bergeron slapshot, the Bruins scored three unanswered goals to take a 3-1 lead. Stamkos buried a wrister with 30 seconds to play to cut the lead to one. St. Louis had a good scoring chance as time winded down but Thomas made a good right pad save. Thomas stopped 40/42 shots for Boston.

Player of the game: Connolly (1 AST; great hustle on both ends; got some great scoring opportunities)

Lineup changes: None

Coaching changes: None; Other than one costly turnover by Roloson, the gameplan was executed to perfection. We spent a lot of time in the Boston zone but Thomas was simply too good.

[Keytosa]

Game 3

Tampa Bay Lightning (0-2-0, 0 PTS) at Washington Capitals (1-1-0, 2 PTS)

In the third game of the season, the Bolts suffered a 5-3 loss at the hands of the Washington Capitals. Pavel Kubina started the scoring with a wristshot from the blue line that deflected off of Vokoun and beating him 5-hole. Alexander Semin answered with a one-timer from the slot shortly after. He followed with a very similar goal a few minutes later off a Victor Hedman giveaway, giving Washington a 2-1 lead. Right after the next faceoff, Tom Pyatt fired a wrister from the slot that snuck under Vokoun's glove to tie the game at two midway through the first period. On a seemingly routine cover-up by Roloson, Ovechkin charged him, knocking the puck loose. A few Lightning player took exception to this and gave him a few cross checks at the next break. Mike Knuble was able to corral a rebound and put it in the back of the net on the next shift to give Washington a 3-2 lead. On the next shift, Martin St. Louis hustled to win a loose puck and fired it at the net. Vokoun made a nice right pad save, but the rebound squirted to Tedy Purcell who found the back of the net. The first period ended with the score knoted at 3. With both teams adopting a more defensive mindset after intermission, the second period was relatively uneventful. Each team had less than 5 shots in the period. In the third period, Vokoun robbed St. Louis from a sure-fire goal. Steven Stamkos received the puck from the point. Skating away from the goal, he found St. Louis on the back side who fired a wristshot into the open side of the net, only to have Vokoun slide over and make the desperation save. Seeming to give Washington momentum, Knuble buried another rebound in the back of the net to give the Capitals the lead with 8 minutes to play. The Bolts never got many good scoring opportunities the rest of the game, and the Caps added a late goal that deflected off of Backstrom's glove to give them the 5-3 lead.

Player of the game: Martin St. Louis (2 AST; great hustle)

Lineup changes: Carter Ashton will make his NHL debut on the 4th line and the 2nd PP unit, hoping to provide some grit and net-front presence and strength in front of the goal that has been lacking thus far...Garon will get the next start in goal.

Coaching changes: Adopt a more defensive-minded game...the Caps were able to score on one-timers from the slot, which are great scoring opportunities that they should not be getting...better net-front presence.

[seb170455]

Good luck with Tampa Bay. I follow this one.

[Keytosa]

Quote: Originally Posted by seb170455

Good luck with Tampa Bay. I follow this one.

Thanks I will probably try to keep the summaries much shorter than the last one. Maybe I will start doing a box score as well. I'll update league and standings every 10 games or so

[Keytosa]

Game 4

Tampa Bay Lightning (0-3-0, 0 PTS) @ New York Islanders (2-0-0, 4 PTS)

Game 4 of the regular season ended in yet another loss for the Bolts, this time at the hands of the New York Islanders. Down 4-2 in the third period, Ryan Malone found the back of the net off a nice feed from Vinny Lecavalier to cut the lead to just one. With the goalie pulled in the final minute, Dominic Moore and Martin St. Louis forced a giveaway in the Islanders zone. Moore fed the puck to Stamkos in the short corner, who attacked the net and fired a wrister that deflected off of the glove of DePietro and into the back of the net to tie the game at 4. In overtime, a Brett Connolly giveaway in the offensive zone found the stick of Mark Eaton, who walked into the slot and fired a wrister over the blocker of Garon. Although it was a good comeback, a loss is a loss. Back to the drawing board.

Player of the game: Dominic Moore (helped the PK kill off all 4 penalties; great hustle in the defensive zone to set up the last goal by Stammer)

Lineup changes: none; although Matthais Ritola was inserted into the lineup last game after being a game-time decision. He was eager to start the season and provide a gritty presence for the Bolts. He did just that as he registered a few big hits in the opening period.

Coaching changes: More defensively responsible. With the lack of scoring other than the top line of St. Louis - Stamkos - Purcell, the Lighting have proved they cannot win in high-scoring affairs. All players need to be more defensive minded, especially when making breakout passes from the defensive zone.

Game notes: Brett Connolly scored his first career goal in the 2nd period after digging the puck out from behind the net and scoring on a wraparound...Tedy Purcell also scored for Tampa Bay...The Islanders scored 3 goals from the slot...The TB penalty kill was 4/4...Despite a few giveaways, rookie Carter Ashton looked pretty good in his NHL debut, almost setting up Martin St. Louis for a goal but DePietro made an amazing glove save...Dwayne Roloson will start the next game in goal... Next game is at Florida, the last in a five game road trip to open the season.

[Keytosa]

Lightning Record First Win of the Season, Defeat Panthers 5-3

Sunrise, Florida - The Tampa Bay Lightning recorded the first win of the young season, defeating the Florida Panthers 5-3. Matthais Ritola scored the game-winner with 6 minutes to play in the 3rd period, Teddy Purcell added an empty netter with 30 seconds remaining, and Tampa held on for the win. Pavel Kubina scored the first power-play goal of the season in the first period and Steven Stamkos scored his 4th of the season in the 2nd period. Florida answered with a goal of their own each time and took a 3-2 lead in the 2nd. However, rookie Carter Ashton would pick up his first point in the NHL with a primary assist on a goal by Taylor Pyatt that tied the game at 3. The Bolts head home for their home opener. They went 1-3-1 in the season-opening road trip.

Game notes: Rookie LW Carter Ashton picked up his first NHL point...Pavel Kubina's power-play goal was the first of the season for Tampa...Teddy Purcell had a goal and two assists.

[Keytosa]

Roloson, Defense Lead Lightning to Home-Opening Win

Tampa Bay, Florida - Dwayne Roloson stopped 28 of 29 shots as the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Florida Panthers 4-1 in Tampa's home opener. Vinny Lecavalier started the scoring with a wrister from the slot, shooting the puck through a Florida defender's legs and beating Theodore glove-side. Teddy Purcell added another goal in the first period by burying a rebound from a Steven Stamkos slapshot to give the Bolts a 2-0 lead at the end of one. In the second period, the defense held strong and Roloson made some huge saves, even killing off a lengthy 5 on 3 penalty. Brett Connolly added some insurance in the 3rd by poke-checking the puck from the point, racing down the ice, and firing a wristshot under the glove of Theodore as the defense tried to poke the puck away. The Panthers scored a goal with 6 minutes remaining to cut the lead to 3-1 and destroy Roloson's shutout. Steven Stamkos added a late goal to push the lead to 4-1. The Lightning improve to 2-3-1 on the season while the Panthers fall to 1-3-1.

Game notes: Teddy Purcell extended his point streak to 5 games with a goal and an assist...Dwayne Roloson was excellent, stopping 28 of 29 shots...The defense was exceptional in front of Roloson, especially Matthias Ohlund and Victor Hedman...After Kris Versteeg appeared to have ran into Roloson after a stoppage, Steven Downie got a little scrappy and gave him a few shoves but neither wanted to drop the gloves...Later in the game, Victor Hedman took exception of Scottie Upshall's bumping of Roloson after the play, dropping the gloves and knocking him to the ice...Upshall responded with a 3rd period goal...Steven Stamkos has 9 points (5 G, 4 AST) through 6 games while linemate Teddy Purcell has 8 (4 G, 4 AST).