(Does a backflip onto a stack of crates
in a warehouse by the docks
wearing a green leotard covered in question marks)
"Riddle me this, Batman!"
(poof! Smoke-bomb,
disappears,
then reappears in the rafters)
"What team can go on a two game winning streak
While never once winning during either game?"
(Batman shoots the Riddler with a gun
and is then arrested by Gotham police)
The answer to the riddle, of course, is your Tampa Bay Lightning.
Through three games, the Bolts haven't yet held a lead,
losing the first game ugly,
giving up huge leads in the second game but catching up
before winning in overtime,
and finally
FINALLY
showing a bit of competence and structure in Game Three,
holding the Caps to a single goal
(Ovechkin's second was called back)
and winning again on a goal from Captain Stamkos, yes,
in overtime.
The good news, of course, is "a win is a win,"
and this game represents progress
and the boys are starting to get it together
and things are starting to click
and all the other clichés,
such as how you've gotta bank these wins early in the season
if you wanna make the playoffs.
But I'm not worried about making the playoffs.
This team has won two straight championships
(as I will point out again and again and again)
so making the playoffs is a low bar beneath consideration
unless multiple significant injuries hobble key players for long stretches
(knocking wood until my knuckles bleed).
What matters is escaping the lethargic form of the first game
or the discombobulation of the second
and finally putting together a sixty minute game
against a quality opponent.
And speaking of injuries,
Nikita Kucherov left in the second period after an apparent knee-bump
with Washington's Garnet Hathaway
and Lightning d-man Jan Rutta left the bench in the second.
Significant players, yes.
Can the Lightning manage without them?
Also yes--
even with offseason losses, the team has depth.
But you hate to see it.
A hard-fought win with the Bolts shutting down their opponent?
THAT.
That
you love to see.
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