There have been a lot of questions about the Lightning this season. One of them should have been answered Tuesday night.
Who is the team's MVP? Look in the usual spot. Just don't look for the usual person.
For the past three seasons, Daren Puppa has been the answer. Perhaps you remember him. Strong, silent type. Appearing on a milk carton near you.
This season, it's again the goalie. Rick Tabaracci. Short, boisterous type. He appeared Tuesday at what was unofficially Shovel Night at the Ice Palace.
The Lightning were going to bury the season. Or, in the words of Tabaracci, they would "dig a little deeper."
With the Lightning, you never know what you might find. What they discovered Tuesday night was that nobody digs like Tabaracci.
A reason to keep believing
Just when it appeared he had hit bottom, Tabaracci shut out Ottawa 5-0 and gave Lightning fans reason to keep believing in playoff miracles. Not that it would take a miracle to make the NHL playoffs. After all, the Lightning found out just Monday that they'd been eliminated from the 1994 playoff picture.
The fact that Tuesday night really was a MUST game shows how desperate things have gotten. And why it was so important for Tabaracci to excel.
Tabaracci has done more than the Lightning could have ever hoped this season. He was acquired out of desperation in November after Puppa's back went kaput. He had his bad nights, but far fewer than most of his teammates.
It wasn't until last week's three-game road trip that the cracks started to show. Tabaracci let in some soft goals, looking like a guy who'd never played more than 43 games in a season. If he was worn out, he wouldn't admit it. It was just a matter of digging deeper.
He started digging with the Lightning ahead 3-0. The Senators then outshot Tampa Bay 18-2 for the rest of the first period. Tabaracci stopped them all, many of them in Puppa-esque fashion.
Old MVP is happy too
Nobody should be happier than the old MVP. The more the Lightning have struggled lately, the less people seem to think of Puppa. Call it the back backlash. They see his on-again, off-again recovery and wonder how serious the guy is about returning.
That's not fair to Puppa. Doctors don't operate on fake slipped discs, and only he knows what kind of pain he's in. But the fact he never shows his emotion makes people think he doesn't care. There's even a conspiracy theory that he's tanking it to show doubting fans and management how badly they need him. Pierre Salinger has the radar photos to prove it.
"I don't wear it on my sleeve, and it makes it worse," Puppa said. "That's me. I can't change."
The longer he has laid out, the more fans have taken to Tabaracci. He has been a clubhouse force, unafraid to speak his mind. But he hasn't alienated anybody by complaining about the often pathetic defense the Lightning have played in front of him.
That's a big reason he was 13-14-1 in the 36 games leading up to Tuesday. Those aren't MVP numbers, but better than the Lightning deserved.
They gave Tabaracci plenty against the Senators. He answered some of the biggest questions of the season.
Had he hit the wall? Probably.
Would it be fatal for the Lightning?
Not as long as Tabaracci is still in there digging.