* Thanks, as it were, to comedian-host Kenon Thompson, the Lightning’s hangover from the playoffs lingered on at the NHL Awards night in Las Vegas. “Shout out to my Tampa folks,” quipped Thompson. “That’s right. They tied the most wins in a regular season with 62 and then they followed it up by tying the least wins in the playoffs with zero. That’s what I like about them, win or lose, they set records.” Ouch. Comes with the territory. The Bolts do own this one.
That said, we still need to give well-earned shout-outs to Nikita Kucherov, honored as the NHL’s scoring champion and Most Valuable Player, and Andrei Vasilevskiy, the league’s best goalie. That’s quite a parlay for one team. Go, Bolts.
* There were two recent–back-to-back–games that could ultimately define the Rays’ season of early high expectations. Blake Snell, of Cy Young Award fame and renegotiated new contract, continued to disappoint and lasted all of 1/3 of an inning against the Yankees and gave up six runs. Even Daniel Robertson, the utility infielder asked to pitch the 9th inning of an embarrassing 12-1 loss, was better. The next day the Rays blew a late 4-1 lead and lost on a walk-off homer to Oakland. A sobering reminder that the Rays do not have a reliable closer, without which the playoffs are problematic.
* The Rays, however, have the consensus best prospect in MLB in infielder Wander Franco, 18.