Best friends that had impact with Tampa Bay Lightning positively all along
Matt Dumba was acquired by Tampa Bay at Friday’s trade deadline about 24 hours after the Lightning traded for his pal, Anthony Duclair.
Duclair participated in an optional skate Saturday morning at Amalie Arena ahead of the Lightning’s evening encounter against the Flyers. Meanwhile, Dumba landed at Tampa International at about 2 p.m. and arrived at the arena 90 minutes later.
“I got a little bite and laid down for about 15 minutes,” said the 29-year-old defenseman, who was acquired from Arizona a few hours before the Coyotes’ game against visiting Detroit on Friday night. “I had a cup of coffee and got to it. Just meet everybody and try to get settled in.”
Dumba got to it in a 7-0 win over Philly, a critical two points for a team battling for a playoff spot. He logged 20:04 of ice time — exactly his season average and far longer than Flyers’ coach John Tortorella lasted on a night his 2004 Cup-champion Lightning were recognized — while paired with Haydn Fleury, dished out a pair of hits, blocked a shot and got into a second-period scrap with Flyers’ captain Sean Couturier.
“I had to get the body going,” said Dumba, who spent 10 seasons with Minnesota before signing a one-year deal with Arizona last summer. “I kind of talked myself into that. Coming to a team like this is so exciting and I was pumped for the opportunity to play (Saturday night).”
Lightning coach Jon Cooper was impressed.
“Matt comes in and brought instant energy to our group,” he said. “He did a lot of things that we need back (on the blue line). He competes real hard.”
Duclair, who roomed with Tampa Bay’s Brayden Point while with Team Canada at the 2015 World Juniors, a team that also featured Nick Paul, got involved early and often. He battled for a loose puck in front of Flyers’ goalie Samuel Ersson leading to an assist on Paul’s power play goal that made it 2-0 less than six minutes into the game.
