For the second straight year, Tampa Bay Lightning forward Mikey Eyssimont is taking advantage of the team’s longer than hoped for offseason to play a little more hockey. The 27-year-old will suit up for Team USA at the upcoming IHF World Championships taking place in Czechia from May 10-26.
Eyssimont will join a team filled with NHL veterans that is sprinkled with college stars like Will Smith, Ryan Leonard, and Trey Augustine. Last year, the Lightning forward had a goal and two assists for an American squad that failed to medal.
He was also suspended for a game for kneeing Sweden’s Rasmus Sandin. The two teams will actually begin this season’s tournament against each other, hopefully Eyssimont will keep his knees to himself this year.
While not every team has released their final rosters just yet, it looks like there won’t be too many Lightning players or prospects heading to Czechia. Victor Hedman indicated he would be playing for Team Sweden in the tournament, marking the first time Big Vic has suited up for his country since 2016-17.
There are two teams that released their pre-tournament rosters and there were no Bolts to be found.
Walterri Merela could have been a possibility, but he’s still playing for Syracuse in their five-game series against Rochester. The same goes for Niko Huuhtanen. The Bolts prospect recently joined the Crunch a couple of weeks ago, but has yet to suit up for them.
None of the Lightning’s Canadian players or prospect cracked the roster. You would have to wonder if Anthony Cirelli was healthier if he would have joined them.
As the other 13 teams release their final rosters, we will look to see if there are any more Lightning players or prospects hanging out in Prague and Ostrava. Some possibilities include Klavs Veinbergs (Latvia), Erik Cernak (Slovakia – doubtful due to injury), and Nick Malik (Czechia).
Other Hockey News
Rochester 4, Crunch 3 – Things were looking great on Saturday night for forty minutes. With a chance to eliminate the Rochester Americans, the Crunch jumped out to a 3-0 lead on goals by Cole Koepke, Walterri Merela, and Alex Barre-Boulet. Throughout the series, Syracuse had been the better third period team, but, with their season on the line, Rochester flipped the script. Brandon Biro scored just 19 seconds into the period. Joseph Cecconi brought them within one midway through the period, and then Biro tied things about four minutes later.
For the third straight game, the teams went to overtime. Unlike in Games 2 and 3, Syracuse wasn’t able to pull it out as Brett Murray scored at the 11:46 minute mark to even up the series. Brandon Halverson made 43 stops in the game while Devon Levi had another strong game with 41 saves on 44 shots. Gage Goncalves finished with two assists. With Jack Finley out due to injury, Shawn Element returned to the line-up.
The deciding game will be in Rochester on Friday at 7:05 PM.
Cole Koepke (1) [Emil Lilleberg, Gabriel Fortier]
Waltteri Merela (2) [Gage Goncalves, Felix Robert]
Alex Barre-Boulet (2) [Gage Goncalves, Max Crozier] Power Play
With the Dallas Stars beating the Vegas Golden Knights, the second round of the playoffs are officially set.
Our Picks (home team listed first):
Florida vs. Boston – Ugh, do we have to pick one? Boston is the lesser of two evils (and has Pat Maroon).
Rangers vs. Hurricanes – Going with the Rangers in this one. Just want another playoff failure for the regular season Corsi Kings of the NHL. The Rangers took Game 1.
Dallas vs. Colorado – Dallas. In a match-up of two of the Lightning’s Stanley Cup opponents, we’ll go with the team that they beat. Plus it’s fun to watch them win with young talent.
Vancouver vs. Edmonton – Edmonton. It feels like Vancouver’s run might have reached a natural ending point. Beating L.A. with their fourth-string goaltender, doing it to Edmonton is something totally different.
Is time up for the Shana-plan? [The Athletic]
Notice the Leafs weren’t part of the second round discussion? They went out in true Maple Leafs fashion, losing Game 7 in overtime to the Boston Bruins, 2-1. The media up there has already assumed Sheldon Keefe is getting his walking papers, but will the team’s inability to make the most of the Core Four’s prime years also take down the architect, Brandon Shanahan?
NHL Selke Finalists [NHL.com]
Aleksander Barkov, Auston Matthews, and Jordan Staal will be vying for the first post-Bergeron Selke award. Barkov is looking for his third win in the four seasons while Matthews is nominated for the first time. Staal finished third in the 2009-10 Selke voting