Plus Minus: Lightning, OHL Spitfires, NHL Global Series, Penguins

In THN’s vast Archive, one of the magazine’s longtime regular features was the “Plus Minus” section featuring the ups and downs of the hockey world. 

That’s something we’re trying out again on THN.com. Below, you’ll find four topics featuring two pluses – positive notes or news – and two minuses – the opposite. Each topic links to the original stories from The Hockey News' team and theme sites. 

With that said, we’ll get straight down to business:

It took overtime Monday night, but the Tampa Bay Lightning extended their winning streak to three games by beating the Boston Bruins 5-4 in overtime. 

Most encouraging was the way the Bolts tied the game multiple times after falling behind, which is a very promising sign as star goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy inches closer to a return.

Journeyman goalie Jonas Johansson has delivered solid results in Vasilevskiy’s absence, posting an 8-4-4 mark in 16 appearances, as well as all three wins in Tampa’s current hot streak. He hasn’t been perfect, but so long as the Lightning’s offense continues to maul the opposition – they’ve scored 15 goals in their past three games – their netminding doesn’t need to be elite.

Tampa Bay currently sits tied for third in the Atlantic Division, but they’ve played two more games than the third-place Toronto Maple Leafs, and that means they’ll welcome back Vasilevskiy as soon as he’s in playing form. But it is a big positive for their fans to see them turning up the heat on offense and giving their goalies a lot of leeway to help them win games.

The OHL's Windsor Spitfires relieved coach Jerrod Smith of his duties Monday after a 4-16-1 start. 

The Spitfires’ struggles have come just one season after finishing first in the OHL’s Western Conference. Smith was hired for the job in July, replacing Marc Savard, who left the organization to work as an assistant coach for the Calgary Flames.

There’s no indication who the Spitfires will bring in to replace Smith besides appointing Casey Torres the interim coach, but even a hockey mind as savvy as Scotty Bowman wouldn’t be able to come in and make lemonade out of the lemons on Windsor’s roster. They amassed 44 victories in each of the past two seasons, but nothing short of an extended miracle will get them into the playoff picture after this horrendous start.

You can blame it on Smith if you want, but the truth is this is an organizational failure, and Smith wound up being the fall guy for it. It's also just part of the way major junior hockey goes, as OHL MVP Matthew Maggio, Shane Wright and Brett Harrison moved on to the pro ranks. 

Smith's replacement is going to face a mountainous challenge to turn the ship around, but at this point, the season might be lost for Windsor. As they already traded their top players last week, they must continue to prepare their organization for the 2024-25 campaign and beyond. Joely Stockl has more on the new blood. 

The NHL’s just-completed series of games in Sweden was a smash hit, particularly with the prodigal son story of Leafs star winger William Nylander almost single-handedly winning games for his team. The Swedish fans were delirious with joy at the play of Nylander, and the quality of the games did not lack quality the way exhibition games often do. The NHL wisely made the most of its growing fan base in Europe by catering to some of its most loyal supporters.

There’s already talk of other markets potentially hosting games down the road; Leafs star center Auston Matthews suggested playing in Mexico City, and while the challenges to make elite-caliber ice would be immense in such a warm-weather locale, the NHL’s operations team has done so in places such as Australia and…California, of course. It can be done, and the league’s investment in itself as a global entity is paying off handsomely.

The Pittsburgh Penguins are fighting to get back in the playoff picture, but they’re going to have to do so with a lineup decimated by injuries. Wingers Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust are projected to be out for some time, with Rakell dealing with an upper-body injury and Rust coping with a lower-body injury.

Meanwhile, Pittsburgh’s defense also has suffered a couple of blows, with Chad Ruhwedel now out week-to-week with a lower-body injury and P.O. Joseph placed on injured reserve with no timetable for his return. 

The Pens should be thankful the injury bug hasn’t bitten superstars Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby, but they need all hands on deck if they’re going to figure out how to navigate their way through the grind of the regular season and qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Crosby and Malkin will do the heavy lifting in regard to that organizational goal, but the sooner they get back the full complement of talent, the more likely they ascend through the Metro ranks. 

Originally published Nov. 21, 2023