Game #1 Recap: Penguins 6 at Lightning 2

 Phil Esposito, the fiery hero on the ice,
was never one to play his cards close to his vest.

Now, generations removed from playing the game himself,
he sits in the media box at Amelie Arena,
providing color commentary on Tampa Bay Lightning games,
watching the players of the franchise he founded
as they bumble and stumble,
botch passes,
lose face-offs,
and ice the puck again and again.

And just like during his days as a center for the Blackhawks, Bruins, or Rangers,
Espo can't hide his emotions.

His commentary on the game,
as the Bolts,
after watching the banner of their 2021 Stanley Cup Championship
being raised to the ceiling in a pregame ceremony,
clatter their way around the ice en route to a 6-2 loss,
is decidedly that of a sad old uncle,
shaking his head and repeating
"what a shame, what a shame,"
unable and uninterested in hiding the disappointment in his voice.

Lightning Coach Jon Cooper,
his freshly-inked and well-earned three-year contract extension in his pocket,
watches his charges chase the Penguins around the ice, 
unable to find their legs or form,

while the Pens, missing core players like
Sidney Crosby, Gino Malkin, Jake Guentzel, and more,
beat them with hustle and structure.

Six minutes remaining,
Lightning down three-zip
(coulda been a lot worse if not for Andrei Vasilevskiy in the home net),
and Coop says let's go for it:
he yanks the Big Cat for the extra attacker,

and the Bolts get one from Anthony Cirelli!

followed by a Pens empty netter

then the Bolts get one from Killorn! They're clawing their way back

followed by a Pens empty netter,

followed by a third Pens empty netter.

6-2 Pens is your final,
the last five goals of the game coming with Vasy on the bench.
A clumsy, uninspired performance to open their championship defense,
accurately summed up by Captain Stamkos:

"A dud."

The Lightning return to action on Thursday in Detroit.

Back from the dead, again

 Hey gang,

Frozen Sheets Hockey was a blog I ran for a few years starting around 2009, covering the Tampa Bay Lighting. I ran it as a creative writing project, introducing goofy characters in fictional settings to provide wacky opinions on the team's ups and downs. The unconventional writing style drew the eye of Raw Charge, SB Nation's Lightning blog, and I started writing there as well for a while. Frozen Sheets had some success and was an active part of the Lightning's blog-o-sphere for a few years until fatigue, shifting interests, and time constraints reduced the frequency of my posts. I eventually gave the whole thing up.

Until now?

I'm bringing it back this season, with a focus on writing game recaps in free verse poetry, which is something I enjoyed in the last stretch of the blog's existence. Whether I do more than that, or even if I can keep up with that... well, just like the Lightning's fortunes this season, we'll see how it all plays out.

The Lightning have won two consecutive Stanley Cups. They've changed some pieces, but they are still stacked and have a good shot at winning a third. Does that serve as a season preview? That will be enough. The season starts tomorrow with the banner raising ceremony at Amalie Arena in Tampa before the Lightning host the Pittsburg Penguins. The Pens will be without Sidney Crosby and Gino Malkin. Will they be any good? Will the Lightning? We'll see.

Steven Stamkos will take part in the whole banner ceremony. He's the old man on the team now, the captain. When I was doing this the first time around, he was the rookie, the kid being held out of the lineup by Coach Rick Tocchet so he could watch and learn, and get in some reps in the weight room. I don't miss those days. The team under OK Hockey's ownership was a fiasco. Things are better now. But the chaos made for some funny blog posts, I guess. Will it be funny this time? I don't know. We'll see.

I'll be back with a recap of the Lightning-Pens game soon. We'll see how the Bolts do, and how I do. Peace.