Vinny Lecavalier and Marty St. Louis usually kick their games up a notch when they visit their native Montreal, but it was a Lightning netminder from Finland who looked more inspired than usual Thursday night. ...more

March 27, 2009

Lightning rookie and overall No. 1 draft pick Steven Stamkos recorded a natural hat trick in Tuesday's game against Chicago, scoring three consecutive goals. Stamkos, who celebrated his 19th birthday on Feb. 12, scored his first goal of the game at 12:58 of the first period when he jumped on puck that caromed off the end boards to the side of the net that he put past Cristobal Huet that tied the game 1-1. Then Stamkos went to work on the power play in the second period. With Craig Adams in the penalty box for a high sticking double-minor at 9:45, Stamkos gave Tampa Bay the lead at 10:28 when he took a down-low, cross-ice feed at the left point from Vinny Prospal and fired a wrist shot to the top of the neat post and over the right shoulder of Huet. Seventy seconds later, with Stamkos back on the left point on the second half of the power play, Stamkos one-timed a Steve Eminger feed past Huet that gave the Lightning a 3-1 lead 11:38 into the second period. Stamkos took to one knee and gave a Tiger Woods-esque fist pump as hats began to rain down from the stands in celebration of the rookie's first career hat trick performance, the first rookie hat trick in franchise history. It is Stamkos' second multi-goal game of the season. The overall No. 1 pick failed early on to live up to the lofty expectations placed on him when Tampa Bay selected him first at the draft in Ottawa back in June. He had four goals through the first 42 games of the season. But since the coaching staff put him onto a strength-training program, which saw him sit out three games as a healthy scratch, Stamkos has improved his play. In his past 13 games, including Tuesday, Stamkos has six goals and five assists. ...more

February 17, 2009

For most of the season, Hudson has been able to overcome deficits and rally back to victory. But as the Cobras advance in the Class 4A state series, the opponents get tougher and the stakes get higher. ...more

February 4, 2009

The surprising thing about Wednesday's first semifinal of the Class 6A-District 8 tournament wasn't that No. 3 Durant defeated No. 2 Sarasota Riverview. The surprising thing was the final score: Cougars 4, Rams 0. ...more

January 22, 2009

Alexander Semin's third-period goal gave the Washington Capitals a 2-1 win against the Boston Bruins on Saturday night. ...more

January 18, 2009

BOYS SOCCER Gators shutout Central in a battle of unbeatens to take sole possession of first place in district. ...more

December 3, 2008

The Lightning and Flyers took fans to a hockey bizarro world on Tuesday in a game that had plenty of the odd and unusual and looked one part da Vinci and at times a whole lot Dali. ...more

December 3, 2008

Like the previous five coaches before him in Lightning history, Rick Tocchet failed to produce a victory in his debut. ...more

November 17, 2008

Intimidating Lightning forward Evgeny Artyukhin has earned more ice time by staying out of the penalty box. ...more

November 5, 2008

Five games into the season and one of Tampa Bay's free agent summer boons has been a bust. ...more

October 19, 2008