tampa bay lightningWinger Teddy Purcell has become a star in the Tampa Bay Lightning's Eastern Conference playoff series against the Boston Bruins, scoring five goals in helping to carry his team to a decisive seventh game Friday night in Boston. Kings fans can only shake their heads at his success, remembering the long droughts Purcell endured during his time with the Kings. Purcell scored four goals in 40 games during the 2008-09 season and three in 41 games in 2009-10 before being traded to Tampa Bay with a third-round draft pick for center Jeff Halpern.
The Lightning clearly got the best of that deal: Halpern left the Kings as a free agent after scoring no goals and contributing only two assists in 16 games. The Lightning drafted Brock Beukeboom with that draft pick but later traded him to St. Louis for key defenseman Eric Brewer. I asked Kings General Manager Dean Lombardi for his thoughts on Purcell’s feats with the Lightning, but Lombardi forwarded my request to Coach Terry Murray, who was kind enough to call from his offseason home in Maine. "I think that's always tough to answer anytime you see a player moved and he finds a way to get it done, and Teddy has fallen into that category," Murray said. "Sometimes it's a change of scenery. Sometimes it's a change of team and circumstances for a young player.
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