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Lightning wins after calling up Jonathan Drouin from minors

in Sports/Top Headlines by

Sometimes, the truth is better than fiction. Sometimes, you couldn’t write stuff like this.

Jonathan Drouin, banished to the minors, suspended and almost written off, salvaged his season Thursday night.

Drouin scored the game-winning goal Saturday night in the Tampa Bay Lightning’s 3-2 victory over New Jersey. The twice-suspended Drouin, who swore he would never again play for the Bolts, was promoted earlier in the day and scored in a 4-2 victory.

โ€œIt wasn’t just the goal,โ€ said coach Jonathan Cooper. โ€œHe led our team in shots (four). I thought in the first period, he was getting his feet wet, but as that game went on, he got stronger and stronger. I’m happy for him.โ€

Ben Bishop stopped 20 shots for his 35th victory of the season.

Eric Condra, Cedric Paquette and Valterri Filppula scored for the Bolts.

Tampa Bay finishes its regular season Saturday night against Montreal.

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Gary Shelton is one of the most recognized and honored sportswriters in the history of the state. He has won the APSE's national columnist of the year twice and finished in the top 10 eight times. He was named the Florida Sportswriter of the Year six times. Gary joined SaintPetersBlog in the spring, helping to bring a sports presence to the website. Over his time in sports writing, Gary has covered 29 Super Bowls, 10 Olympics, Final Fours, Masters, Wimbledons and college national championships. He was there when the Bucs won a Super Bowl, when the Lightning won a Stanley Cup and when the Rays went to a World Series. He has seen Florida, FSU and Miami all win national championships, and he covered Bear Bryant, Bobby Bowden and Don Shula along the way. He and his wife Janet have four children: Eric, Kevin, K.C. and Tori. To contact, visit [email protected].

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