Gameday! Seen Stamkos?

Obviously, the big story here is still Thornton being out for the next two games. Thornton and his agent unsuccessfully attempted to appeal the decision, as the league upheld the original suspension. Perhaps the most telling line in that article is this, "When Joe asked the league, directly, what he could have done differently, they could not clearly explain."

Personally, I feel that if you can firmly state that a hit warrants a suspension of any length, you should be able to tell the player how to correct their behavior and avoid a similar situation the next time. That the League declined to do so is unsettling at best.

Still, there is a game to be played, and it should be quite the challenge for the Sharks, who have struggled offensively for the past few games. The Lightning are hot hot hot, and to come out on the winning side of the score sheet tonight would be a huge boon for the Sharks, as well as a huge confidence booster for the team. While it isn't panic time yet, the Sharks desperately need to get their game going consistently if they want to catch back up to LA and Dallas. (I believe the can).

Niitty has been tapped to start in net tonight against his old team. Hopefully he can show them a thing or two and make them wish they'd kept him along the way. With Joe out, Benn Ferriero has been called up from the WorSharks in an effort to fill in the gaps. I wouldn't be surprised to see Logan up with Patty and Heater on the first line tonight, as TMac has already messed with that combination and may feel more comfortable with it than shifting around his lines even more to try and find an offensive spark.