Might Budaj make his first Lightning start in Pittsburgh on Friday?

by Erik Erlendsson | @Erik_Erlendsson | Like us on Facebook
March 2, 2017

TAMPA, Fla. – The Lightning’s last trip to Pittsburgh went about as well as a chain smoker trying to run the Boston Marathon.

Tampa Bay was humiliated by the defending Stanley Cup champions by a 6-2 score on Jan. 8. It felt almost as if things had hit rock bottom at the time as the Lighting suffered a fourth-consecutive loss and accomplished something that had never happened in the Jon Cooper era until then, the team allowed five or more goals in four consecutive games.

It came at a time when Ben Bishop was injured and Andrei Vasilevskiy played every single minute of action in the nine games Bishop was out.

So heading back to Steel City (7 p.m., Fox Sports Sun, 970-AM)and in desperate need of points after watching nearly every team around the Lightning in the standings pick up points on Thursday, might head coach Jon Cooper and the staff turn to newly acquired goaltender Peter Budaj to make his first start?

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It might make a lot of sense to give Budaj his first start on Friday since he was acquired from the Los Angeles Kings earlier in the week in the deal that sent Ben Bishop out West.

Budaj has now had a couple of skates with his new team to get a feel for his new teammates. The 34-year-old has had a front row seat for the past two games to watch how the play.

”We have a very, talented and skilled team,’’ Budaj said of his first impression of watching his new teammates. “I think we can definitely put the puck in the net, we have a good power play. The guys are very fast and we have a good skating team. Now we just have to play 60 minutes. We have a good team and we can keep climbing.’’

Oh, and Budaj registered one of his league-high seven shutouts this season against the Penguins, stopping 39 shots in Pittsburgh on Dec. 16. He’s also beat the Penguins twice this year.

”It helps a little to know their tendencies,’’ Budaj said of potentially facing Pittsburgh. “But the team has changed, it’s been three months since then and the team has changed a lot over the course of the year. They have personnel changes, injuries come and go, callups come. So you just have to take the prescout and not worry about what they are going to do, but worry about what we are going to do, how are we going to skate and we go from there.”

Budaj didn’t say he was going to get the start on Friday, but he will be ready if he gets the nod.

”I’m very excited, it’s a great group of guys in front of me, a lot of skill,’’ he said. “And it’s a great organization, the past few years they have proved it and played great. So I’m excited to be here and I’m going to try to help the team get to the playoffs. You want to play, it’s great to play and it’s great to be a part of this team the first two wins since I’ve been here are great and now we need to just keep going. It’s a tight race and every game is a playoff game for us.’’

When he does get the call, Budaj will be ready, having got a feel now for his new surroundings.

”You just have to talk to the guys – and talking is not the same as playing – but you just have to get to know the system, know the players patterns,’’ Budaj said. “Everybody is different, coaches have different systems, different D zone coverage so I just watch the game as much as I can and use it in practice. This team has always been a good puckhandling team with Bish, so I just keep working on it and when I get the chance to play, be sharp and make simple plays, not try to make a breakout pass, just simple plays and I think it will be fine.’’

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