And the Lightning Strike Twice

 

It's hard to believe just two years ago the Lightning were coming off a sweep in the first round by the Columbus Blue Jackets that left us shaking our heads and with little faith that they'd ever win the Stanley Cup. 

Now...they are back-to-back champions.

Due to a loophole in NHL rules that teams voted not to close, the Lightning were able to keep Kucherov on the injury list during the regular season(he had surgery in December) and he could return for the playoffs without his salary going against the cap.  This meant they had a stacked team for the playoffs which earned them a "cheater" tag, but everything they did was well within the rules. 

They opened against the Florida Panthers who finished ahead of them in he regular season.

There were several brawls and dirty plays and I think it's safe to say, a rivalry was born.

The Lightning won in 6 picking up the first two wins on the road and then exchanging wins and loses from there. 

Game 1  5-4   Lightning

Game 2  3-1 Lightning

Game 3  6-5 Panthers (overtime)

Game 4  6-2 Lightning

Game 5   4-1 Panthers

Game 6   4-0 Lightning

Second Round was against the Carolina Hurricanes who also finished ahead of the Lightning in the regular season. 

The Lightning won in five games again taking the first two on the road.

Game 1    2-1 Lightning

Game 2    2-1 Lightning

Game 3    3-2 Hurricanes in Overtime

Game 4    6-4 Lightning

Game 5    2-0 Lightning

They once again met the Islanders in the Eastern Conference Final - though they didn't call it that this year. No love lost between these two teams. 

This time they needed 7 games to get the job done

Game 1   2-1 Islanders

Game 2   4-2 Lightning 

Game 3   2-1 Lightning

Game 4   3-2 Islanders

Game 5   8-0 Lightning

Game 6   3-2 Islanders in overtime

Game 7   1-0 Lightning

Staley Cup Finals was against Montreal. Montreal was not a strong team at all and the Lightning disposed of them in just 5 games. It could have been a sweep, but game 4 went into overtime and the Lightning came out on the wrong side of that one. It turned out to be for the best though as game 5 was in Tampa and they were able to win the cup in front of their fans.

Game 1     5-1  Lightning

Game 2     3-1  Lightning

Game 3     6-3  Lightning

Game 4     3-2 Montreal in overtime

Game 5     1-0 Lightning

There were a couple things worth noting

- this year, the Lightning did not win any overtime games (unlike last year when they won all but 1)

- Vasilevsky had a shutout in every clinching game this year. And because they won two clinching games by a score of 1-0, he was the MVP. Well deserved. 

A lot of hate being showered on the Lightning, but that's okay...

They only hate ya when you're good!

Newest Family Member

     A few weeks ago I received a text from my sister saying that she and a friend who runs a rescue organization for cats had rescued a mother cat and her three kittens. 

And she sent me this picture...

Well...I fell in love. At the time she said she planned to take the orange cat so, after checking with Zack, I told her we would take one of the gray ones. I wanted a female and fortunately enough, one of them was a female. 

After a couple weeks in foster care being monitored by a veterinarian, we picked her up Sunday the 18th. 

 She has adjusted beautifully. She was loving and affectionate from the very first day and didn't seem fazed by being ripped away from her foster home and siblings. I let Zack name her and I agreed on his second choice...Nia.  The following pictures are from her very first night with us.

It is so much fun to watch her play as anything is fair game, including any paper on the ground. She plays and explores hard and then suddenly, she'll curl up on your chest and crash. 

Needless to say her cuteness quotient is extremely high and we may be a little obsessed with her.