–edit, 11:35am–
According to Erik Erlendsson of the Tampa Tribune, Osgood is 17-0 against the Bolts.  But Jimmy’s getting the start.

From what I recall reading, Young James is getting the start again.  I can’t even begin to fathom what Babcock’s method is for choosing his starter at this point.  I know for a while it was to reward Jimmy for playing well, but at a certain point, as I’ve mentioned before, you’d think that Osgood needs to get more starts to get into the groove of things.  But what do I know?  No goaltending controversy here.

Howard’s never played against the Lightning before.

On the opposite end, I’m going to guess Mike Smith gets the call for the Lightning.  He had to come in for Antero Niittymaki, who was chased after 4 goals in 14 shots Wednesday.
Career stats vs. Detroit
Played: 3
Won: 1
Lost: 2
GAA: 2.29

Tampa Bay is 13th in the East with 31 points (can I take this moment to point out that I think the East is a cupcake conference?  13th in the West is Columbus with 34 points.  Detroit is in 8th right now with 39, which would be good for 5th in the Eastern Conference, looking at Boston, who has 38 points.  Ridiculous).  Anyway, the Lightning got shellacked in Nashville on Wednesday to the tune of 7-4.  Maybe they should practice more and play “strip shootout” a little less often.

I’m not going to lie–I don’t think I’ve ever actively watched a Lightning game.  I think I’ve probably had it on TV when they play the Rangers or something, but I’ve never sat down to purposely watch one, and I know I didn’t watch when they won the cup in 2004.  Should be interesting–heard that Lecavalier guy is pretty good, and while the Lightning haven’t been playing all that great, we all are acutely aware what kind of game this is.  It was brought up on Sunday’s Obstructed View podcast that the Wings haven’t played that great with a couple of days off.  I’m also concerned about them taking the Lightning too lightly–an amusing thought when you consider Tampa is on a 5 game losing streak, but Vincent Lecavalier had a 3 point night against Nashville (2-1-3) after a fairly unproductive start, and Tocchet was apparently pleased with their effort.  Alex Tanguay was a healthy scratch last night but will return to the lineup vs Detroit.

For the love of God, let’s not be the team to end the Lightning’s streak.

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