Tampa Bay Lightning Reassign Slater Koekkoek To Syracuse Crunch
The Tampa Bay Lightning have reassigned defenseman Slater Koekkoek to the Syracuse Crunch ahead of their encounter with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Tampa Bay Lightning have been struggling to get their heads above water as of late. Unlike their start to the season, in which they were scoring goals and winning games at a furious pace, the Bolts have been straining to win even the simplest of games.
Needless to say, if the Tampa Bay Lightning have any hopes of finding themselves with a spot in the postseason, something is going to have to change much sooner than later. This means Lightning Head Coach Jon Cooper has a lot of thinking to do in order to form a master plan to get the job done.
This means shaking up the lines and trying to find new combinations in order to get the job done. Unfortunately, sometimes certain players find themselves the odd man out in these situations. Just this very same issue has come into play ahead of tonight’s contest against the reigning Stanley Cup Champions, the Pittsburgh Penguins.
tampa bay lightning
Bolts by the Bay 1 dTampa Bay Lightning G Ben Bishop: 'Nobody Is Going To Feel Bad For Us'
More headlines around FanSided:
1 d - Tampa Bay Lightning Fall Hard In Loss To Vancouver Canucks2d - Tampa Bay Lightning Vs. Vancouver Canucks: Live Thread For Game No. 282d - Tampa Bay Lightning D Jason Garrison Ready To Go Against Vancouver Canucks2d - Tampa Bay Lightning F Jonathan Drouin To Return Against Vancouver Canucks2d - Tampa Bay Lightning Shift Focus On Vancouver Canucks Following Short BreakMore News at Bolts by the Bay
According to Tampa Bay Lightning Beat Writer Bryan Burns, Lightning defenseman Slater Koekkoek has been reassigned to the Syracuse Crunch. Needless to say, this comes as a shock to many Lightning fans both here in the Bolts Nation and abroad.
Slater Koekkoek has been incredibly strong, both offensively and defensively, in the 17 games he’s played with the Lightning so far this season. Offensively, Koekkoek has yet to put the puck in the back of the net himself; however, he has earned four assists.
Defensively, Koekkoek has 14 blocked shots so far this season. This is one more than defenseman Nikita Nesterov, who has also played in three more games this season than Koekkoek.
In addition to this, Koekkoek has a mere two giveaways this season. This is good enough to put him in first place on the team in this respect.
The decision to reassign Slater Koekkoek to the Syracuse Crunch has many Lightning fans shaking their heads and throwing their hands up in defeat. It will be interesting to see what kind of impact this has on the Lightning’s performance tonight against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The action between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Pittsburgh Penguins is set to kick off at 7:00 p.m. at the Amalie Arena. If you can’t make it to the game, you can catch all the action on Fox Sports Sun or on the go with the Fox Sports Go app. Otherwise, you can tune into 970WFLA and TBL Power Play on iHeartRadio.
More from Bolts by the Bay