First one done and won

I haven't been able to write a headline like that since 2018, due to the fact that my Tampa Bay Lightning failed to advance past the first round of the 2019 NHL playoffs.

However, last night they prevailed in their first round series of these belated 2020 playoffs, so now I get to write something victory-tinged!

It would be easy to make too big a deal about the fact that the team they vanquished in five games this year is the same one that eliminated them last year. I refuse to do that largely because the rosters aren't identical to the ones last spring, but also because the true objective -- winning Lord Stanley's Cup -- requires prevailing in four consecutive playoffs series, not just one.

But I will say that it felt particularly good to beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, not only because of what they did to my team in 2019, but because they play the precise kind of punishing, defensive game that tends to succeed in the post-season and often trips up higher-seeded squads like the Bolts.

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To win in the playoffs, you must have the gumption and mental strength to come through in adversity, when every little thing is tightly battled and the deck seems stacked and the margin for error is practically nil. These Bolts proved they have that gumption and mental strength by winning both contests that went to overtime -- including that Michenerian epic of a Game One that lasted five overtimes and ended up being the fourth-longest game in NHL history.

The Bolts took the series four games to one, with each of their victories being by one goal whereas Columbus's lone win was by two goals. The combined goal count for the series was in Tampa Bay's favor by just 14-12, and that, mes amis, is tight as can be. It says something good about the Bolts' character that they were able to forge through such a battle and come out on top by a margin that will look more comfortable in the history books that it was in reality.

It was Brayden Point who buried the Game One winner at 10:27 of the fifth overtime, and then it was Brayden Point who scored the series-winner 5:12 into overtime in Game Five. Therefore, I hereby dub him Mr. OT and declare that this shall be his nickname forevermore. 

What most impressed me about the series, however, was the Lightning's third line, consisting of Yanni Gourde at center flanked by late season acquisitions Blake Coleman and Barclay Goodrow. They are fast, scrappy, happy to hit and willing to be hit. They are able to play against the best the competition has to offer. And each of them put the puck in the net against the Blue Jackets, never mind that neither Coleman nor Goodrow had scored in a Tampa Bay uniform until this week! I dub them the Lunch Pail Line, and declare that they are the kind of unit a team must have if it is going to have a chance to sip from the grail.

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When talking about the Lightning's chances going forward, there were other encouraging things about this round that just ended.

From a character standpoint, I love the resilience they showed by bouncing back to win Game Five after a putrid second period in which they lost a two-goal lead and watched Columbus score a go-ahead goal with less than 16 seconds remaining before the buzzer.

I love that Victor Hedman was a beast at every spot on the ice, on both sides of the puck, while logging monster minutes. He is arguably the best defenseman in the world and has been for several years, and for him to play like it when it matters most means a hell of a lot.

I love that Zach Bogosian, who was thought by many to be over the hill and a likely liability when the team signed him in February, has instead surprised everyone by moving seamlessly into the defense corps and making almost no mistakes even on the top pairing.

I loved Kevin Shattenkirk's even-keel presence and offensive zone quarterbacking throughout the series.

I love that despite Columbus having managed to keep the puck away from Nikita Kucherov for most of Game Five, as soon as he and the Bolts finally succeeded at getting it on his stick, he responded by assisting on all three of the goals that transformed a 4-2 third period deficit into a 5-4 overtime triumph.

And I love that despite Steven Stamkos being sidelined by injury(ies) the team still managed to defeat a defensive juggernaut over the course of a full playoff round.

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But there were troubling signs in this series as well. Things that must change in order for this team to win the Cup.

They kept committing bad penalties at bad times and putting themselves down a man. You simply can't keep doing that without it eventually catching up to you, especially when your likely opponent in the next round can throw snipers like Pastrnak and Marchand against you when you're on the PK.

And speaking of special teams, the Lightning were zero-for-ten on the power play against Columbus. That is unacceptable, especially for a team as talent-laden as them. If you go a whole series against Boston without scoring on the power play, you will lose the series and lose it badly. Period. End of story. No question about it.

The face-offs need to improve. Since the Coronasuspension ended, only two Lightning players who have taken more than a single draw (Point and Cedric Paquette) are above 50 percent, while every other player is below 45 percent. If you continue to perform like that in the dot night-in and night-out, you will ultimately be, in the words of C3PO, doomed.

Which brings me to: The Captain. I appreciate that the team is being enigmatic about Steven Stamkos's injury and his prognosis for return, but I do not like there is an injury and prognosis for them to be enigmatic about. The Lightning desperately need him back in the lineup for the juice he would bring to the power play and boost he would bring to the face-off dot.

Let us hope that Stamkos returns soon, and that he returns at full strength and at full speed.

Go Bolts!

And finally...

...hockey has returned. 

Lots of things have not returned since Coronapanic swept the world in March, but at least hockey has.

Granted, it did not feel like hockey at first, not with the stands empty and so many clubs sequestered in a particular city, all playing in the same arena with no real home team or visiting team.

But it was hockey nevertheless, and remains hockey nevertheless -- and is even playoff hockey since the NHL decided to nix the remainder of the regular season after that four-month delay. And I have glady adapted to it.

Thank God for that, because I have missed the diversion that this splendid game provides. So while I wait for other, more important facets of life to return, here are some thoughts about this long-interrupted 2019-20 NHL campaign.

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When the regular season got aborted at 85 percent of term, Alexander Ovechkin had 48 goals and was tied with David Pastrnak for tops in the league. That is a remarkable achievement, seeing as how it made 2019-20 the eleventh time in his career that he finished a season with 40 or more goals. The only other player in history to have pulled that off was Wayne Gretzky; and if Ovechkin hits the mark again next year, he will equal Gretzky's record of twelve 40-goal campaigns.

By finishing atop the board for 2019-20 (albeit in a tie) he pulled off another remarkable feat by securing his ninth Rocket Richard Trophy. Which is even more remarkable when you consider that he did it at the age of 34.

But what's even more remarkable than that is the fact that he's done it the last three seasons in a row, i.e. at the ages of 32, 33, and 34. And what's even more remarkable than that is the fact that he has also did it at the age of 30, meaning that with the lone exception of 2016-17, Ovechkin has so far led the NHL in goals in four out of the five seasons which have taken place since he's been "on the wrong side of 30."

Then again, he's topped the league in goals seven of the last eight seasons and nine of the last thirteen, so why, really, should anyone be surprised?

But what bugs me to no end, and drives me to write this segment, is that the early termination of this season denied Alexander Ovechkin the opportunity to finish with 50+ goals. The Caps had thirteen games left on the docket and he only needed two more markers, so it's almost certain he would have gotten them. That would have been his ninth time attaining that summit, which would have pulled him into a tie with Gretzky and Mike Bossy for the most 50-goal seasons in history.

I feel like he as a hockey player got robbed, and we as hockey fans got robbed as well. Damn.

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It sure feels like an era has ended in the Big Apple.

The dapper and unflappable Swede, Henrik Lundqvist, is Mr. New York Ranger Himself and ranks as one of the better goaltenders in NHL history. But he is 38, and his numbers have declined for a few years now, and he has a year left on his contract at a cap hit of $8.5 million. Plus, the team has two much cheaper goalies who outplayed him this year in Aleksandar Georgiev and Igor Shesterkin, both of whom are 24.

Oh, and there's this: Team president John Davidson said he spoke with Lundqvist at the end of the flight from Toronto after the Rangers' season ended, and said, "We will talk and see where we go. We made it clear that we aren't carrying three goalies next year. We gotta figure out what we are going to do."

It is almost impossible to picture Lundqvist wearing another organization's sweater, but it sure feels like the writing is on the wall. We shouldn't forget that Earl Campbell finished his career with the Saints, Joe Montana wound up in Kansas City, Michael Jordan suited up for the Washington Wizards, and Red Sox legend Wade Boggs donned a Yankees cap before everything was said and done. This stuff happens.

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Toronto somewhat rightly thinks of itself as the center of the hockey universe (though I disagree) and Pittsburgh somewhat rightly considers itself responsible for the creation of the NHL. 'Tis going to be interesting to see what those cities' franchises do in the offseason, for both are at a crossroads.

The Maple Leafs' core consists of John Tavares, Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and William Nylander, whose combined cap hit equals a whopping $40.489 million. That means almost half of Toronto's salary cap (49.68 percent) is tied up in just four players, none of whom is a defenseman.

Meanwhile, the Penguins' core consists of 33-year-old Sidney Crosby, 34-year-old Evgeni Malkin, and 33-year-old Kris Letang, each of whom has significant history of injury. This means that, incomprehensible though it might seem, Father Time could be pouncing at this very instant and aging this championship club out of its contender status, right as it rubs up against the salary cap and enters an off-season in which both of its goalies become free agents and are due big raises.

Toronto GM Kyle Dubas and Pittsburgh GM Jim Rutherford have each said they have no plans to tamper with their core. I think they should rethink that stance, though of course it's easy for me to say that from my armchair.

The Leafs are four years into their project, and what do they have to show for it? Sure they've made it to the post-season four straight times, but on all four of those occasions they've failed to advance past the first round. Offense is not the problem and goaltending is not the problem. Defense, however, most certainly is the problem, and has been the problem this whole time, yet the Leafs have not shown any progress in that area despite having four years to work on it. Something's gotta give.

Matthews and Tavares aren't going anywhere and it's hard to imagine the Leafs dealing away Marner, but what about Nylander? Surely there is a willing trade partner out there, some team that has plenty of D but needs offense and would be very enticed by Nylander's manageable contract. At less than $7 million per annum, his salary is not only significantly less than the rest of Toronto's core, but is also reasonable for his skill set and he is locked up at that figure for four more seasons. I think Dubas has to shop him... and call me crazy, but I think he should do the unspeakable and also listen to offers on Marner, seeing as how he would bring a bigger return than Nylander, and seeing as how trading him would have the added benefit of clearing his almost $11 million cap hit off the books.

As far as the Penguins are concerned, I would be actively shopping Letang if I was Jim Rutherford. Letang has been one of the most overrated blueliners on Earth ever since he first stepped on NHL ice, yet everybody talks about him like he should get Hall of Fame consideration. Whoever Rutherford trades him to is guaranteed to overpay because Letang's reputation is bigger than his game, so Rutherford might as well accept an overpayment and bring some new and improved and younger blood into Western PA.

Also, count me among the many observers who believe Rutherford should re-sign Tristan Jarry to man the Penguins' net while allowing Matt Murray to move on to other pastures.

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News broke earlier today that Hall of Fame pivot Dale Hawerchuk has passed away at the age of 57. It was stomach cancer that took him out way too soon. Pardon my French, but fuck cancer. I hate it.

Hawerchuk was the first true legend of the Winnipeg Jets after they joined the NHL. He tallied 103 points (45, 58) in his rookie season of 1981-82, making him the first player in NHL history to pass the century mark as a rookie. And the only person to do that since him is Sidney Crosby.

In 1987 he won a late-third-period, defensive-zone faceoff that sprung Wayne Gretzky, Larry Murphy, and Mario Lemieux up the ice on a jailbreak that resulted in Lemieux scoring the goal that broke a 5-5 tie between Team Canada and Team USSR, thus winning the hallowed Canada Cup for his home and native land (I'm hoping you don't mind me using this occasion to quote our northern neighbor's national anthem).

Hawerchuk was traded to Buffalo in a blockbuster trade in 1990. There he had another excellent stint, averaging more than a point per game during his five years with the Sabres.

He will be missed.