Cory Murphy injured, Lashoff gets a promotion...

In last night's game against the Leaf's, Cory Murphy broke a bone in his foot from a shot from Lecavalier. At this time in the season, I think that it is improbable that he will return for any of the games at the end.

He had been QBing the Lightning power play since being claimed off of waivers from Florida. He has had a couple of goals in the last few games, so it sucks to see him be injured.

There is one guy who is probably kinda excited for this. I'm sure he's not excited about how his teammate is injured, but for Matt Lashoff this is an instant promotion.

Lashoff, as we profiled earlier in this blog, got to play his first game for the team last night. Already during his 1st game, he played for 22:58 of ice time and had a spot on the power play. And with the sudden change of events, he now gets to have an extended audition for the Lightning. There will be no pressure on him during these next few weeks, but he will definately have to show Tocchet that he can be a key defenceman for next season. He will step in and replace the role that Murphy had.

This is great for the young kid who hasn't proven himself yet. He has top 4 potential, and now get's the chance to learn and show some skill. So as much as it sucks to have a player injured, this may end up as a benefit for the Lightning next season. Since we are not in a playoff race, we can shut down Murphy for the season and let Lashoff gain NHL experience. This is the time to let the young guys get the chance and the experience that they normally would not have if we were in the playoff race.