Monday FTB: Atlantic contender is struggling

And it’s NOT Toronto!

There’s a team in the Atlantic division that has been a contender for the past several years, and they’ve been struggling of late. And no, it’s not Toronto. The Tampa Bay Lightning entered yesterday with a 2-5-3 record in their last 10 games, and that was before they got their teeth kicked in by Carolina where they lost 6-0, were outshot 38-14, and had 34% of the expected goals. Tampa managed only 4 shots through the first two periods — they actually had 0 shots in the entire second period. Zero! Zilch! Nada! Kaput! Bupkis!

This is a game after they were pretty outplayed by the Buffalo Sabres, where the coach benched all three of Stamkos, Point and Kucherov and said this after the game:

So yeah, things haven’t been so rosy in Tampa Bay lately. So while Toronto looking not as good as we’d hope for after the deadline can be damn frustrating to watch, at least that seems to be going around right now!

LINKS FROM THE BRANCHES

The Maple Leafs and having a trade deadline acquisition hurt after a few games, name a better duo.

Centers of attention: Leafs health concerns will be a theme for the next month | by TLN

If Ryan O’Reilly goes on LTIR, which could still be a thing and not something that should induce significant fear, the Leafs would have $1.875M of cap relief to work with and basically four weeks that it will be in effect for. That covers off getting Holmberg and either McMann or someone else into the Leafs lineup down the stretch.

MONDAY FEATURE: Ferguson’s Wild Week Ends With Strong Showing In Senators Debut | by Inside AHL Hockey

There are travel headaches, and then there is the travel nightmare goaltender Dylan Ferguson endured this past week before ultimately being traded and having his travel plans reconfigured for a fourth time in a span of two and a half days.

“Well I’m glad you asked because the last 72 hours have been pretty crazy to tell you the truth,” Ferguson told InsideAHLHockey.com on Saturday night.

QMJHL commissioner Gilles Courteau resigns | By Montreal Gazette

Under the spotlight for several weeks because of allegations of sexual misconduct in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, commissioner Gilles Courteau resigned on Sunday.

Courteau publicly disclosed his decision in a letter posted via Twitter. “Today, I contacted Mr. Richard Létourneau, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, to announce my resignation, effective immediately,” Courteau wrote. “I am no longer the commissioner of the QMJHL.