Sportsfrog.com

Hockey stat of the day, courtesy of the St. Pete Times

The last time the [Lightning] won a game scoring fewer than three goals was April 6, 2006, when Sean Burke beat the Penguins 1-0.

Last season, the Lightning was 0-30-1 in such games.

Johan Holmqvist stole a 2-1 win for them last night, and is certainly looking like a #1 goaltender. As I said last season, the holes on this team are not in net, they are on the blueline and in scoring depth. Both were addressed in the offseason, while no moves were made to ‘upgrade’ the goaltending. Cheer to Jay Feaster, who is probably the most underrated and definitely one of the best GM’s in the game today.

In other news, expect another 20+ games suspension soon. Jesse Boulerice of the Flyers cross-checked Ryan Kessler last night and even though Kessler was not seriously injured, he didn’t have the puck at the time and the play came across a lot more premeditated than Downies’ charge on McAmmond in the preseason. Boulerice also has a history of stick-work dating back to his OHL days.

There was a lot of good action on the ice Wednesday night too, but probably the best story was the triumphant return of Brian Berard to the NHL. Going from a guy who could have been one of the better defensemen ever to play in the league, to a guy just fighting to keep a job in the league after a disabling eye injury and a recurring back problem, Berard was signed by the Islanders yesterday and went on to score the game winning goal for the Fisherman against the hated Rangers. Cheers to Brian.