November 28, 2015: Tampa Bay Lightning vs the New York Islanders

Vladislav Namestnikov, a blue-eyed, blond Russian-American hockey player, sits in his stall in the Tampa Bay Lightning locker room with his head resting in his hands. He is dressed in his attire for the game, with his black home jersey. His gloves and helmet remain on the shelf above him. He stares across the room, deep in thought. His head is swimming with images from the past two games.

The Lightning cannot afford a third loss tonight.

Steven Stamkos, another blond hockey player with gray eyes, walks by him. The captain of the team glances at him and halts, seeing him in his intense focus. "You okay, Vladdy?"

Vladdy nods. "I'm just trying to figure out why we can't score, that is all. We've done everything correctly... Why won't the puck go in?"

"It'll be okay, we'll be fine. We just need to keep generating chances. The puck will go in and we will get the win. Just keep shooting the puck. Okay Vladdy?" Steven says to him.

Vladdy nods again. But he can't help but think that there is more to why the Lightning's offense has gone missing. He can't help but feel like there is something wrong. But he shoves the worry to the side and gets to his feet. He can't be worrying like this, it's game time and it is time for him to prove that he deserves to be a member of the Tampa team.

Vladdy grabs his helmet and puts it on, clipping it in place and then tucks his gloves under his arm and gets all ready for the game. He looks to the stall beside him, where Nikita Kucherov, a brunette Russian player, sits in his spot with his head hung low, holding his phone in gloved hands, just staring at the screen.

The young Russian forward sniffles and mutters to himself rather loudly, "Я скучаю по тебе Pally и Johnny...пожалуйста, поправиться быстро. (I miss you Pally and Johnny...please, recover fast.)"

Vladdy turns to him and puts a hand on his shoulder. "It'll be okay Kuch. They'll be back soon."

Nikita looks up at him and sighs. "I guess..." he says in a thick Russian accent. He turns his phone off and puts it away  with his gloves on. "Когда они вернутся? (When will they be back?)"

"Soon. Now come on, we got a game and two losses to avenge," Vladdy states, patting his friend on the back. "We gotta give our fans a win! They deserve one."

Nikita nods. "Я только один слева. Я не могу сделать это в одиночку. Это не то же самое без них. (I'm the only one left. I can't do this alone. It isn't the same without them.)" He shakes his head and gets to his feet.

He reaches up and grabs his helmet off the shelf above his head and puts it on. He spins around to his fellow Russian friend, clipping the chin strap in place and then he dips his head at him. Vladdy smiles sweetly for reassurance. Nikita blinks but eventually returns the smile. They share a special handshake with one another and then head for the door, where Steven is standing.

They walk by him and into the tunnel, where they await the call from the announcer. They go through their pre-game routine, stretching and focusing on the night's events and the game plan.

"Ladies and gentleman, you're Tampa Bay Lightning!!" the announcer rings out, which is followed immediately by the crowd cheering.

All the players head out of the tunnel and launch onto the ice. They skate around in their end, taking shots on goal and then a few Lightning players exit to the bench. Steven, Nikita and Vladdy skate around and stop at the blueline. The chosen defensemen, Victor Hedman and Anton Stralman join them.

The National Anthem is sung, then the lights flick on and the players skate around a little bit, full of anxiety. They line up at center ice along with the referee. Steven takes the faceoff and manages to win it and get it back to Hedman.

Victor then passes it up to Vladdy, who is skating close to the boards. He receives the puck and then attempts to pass it to Steven but it is intercepted and taken away by an opposing player. "Oh come on!" Vladdy whines to himself. He speeds back and attempts to steal the puck back with a brilliant defensive play. He manages to get it and send it to Nikita. Then Nikita sends it to Steven and the two Russians head to the bench.

Alex Killorn and Valtteri Filppula take the ice. At 16:20 of the first period, Stralman takes a slapshot from the point that Greiss, the Islanders' goalie, saves, but the puck pops into the air and Killorn then bats it into the net on the glove side for a Lightning goal. 1-0 Lightning.

Vladdy finds himself on a line with Nikita and Jonathan Marchessault. They take the ice and attempt to generate shots with offensive bursts of speed, stick handling and one-timers at the goal. But then Vladdy hooks an Islander player. He stops and throws his head back. "Oh no!"

He heads to the box and enters it. He sits down and shakes his head. He takes a sip of water and watches his team working to kill off the penalty. Thankfully for him, it is successfully killed off by his teammates. He quickly launches from the penalty box and takes a shot on goal, aiming for the stick side.

Later on, toward the end of the period, Vladdy finds himself sitting on the bench and he watches as Ryan Callahan and one of the Islanders' players, Okposo, confront one another and then shed their gloves and fight.

Vladdy gets to his feet and cheers his teammate on. Callahan lands some blows and eventually ends up coming off as the winner in a rather quickly paced fight. Because of the time of the fight, he and Okposo are sent down the tunnel to the locker room. Callahan looks stern and pissed off as he exits, pounding a few fan fists on his way down the tunnel.

The period soon comes to an end and Vladdy heads down the tunnel, following after Nikita. They enter the locker room for intermission.

Soon the second period begins and Stralman then makes it 2-0 at 1:39 of the second period when he scores a goal from the slot off a beautiful behind-the-back pass from Steven Stamkos in front of the net. Stralman then easily scores into the open side of the net. Vladdy stands up in the bench and screams out, "YEA!"

Around 4:15, Braydon Coburn grabs Martin and another fight happens. Vladdy cheers on his teammate again.

As the clock winds down, the Lightning hold their one goal lead, trying to generate chances. However they end up also giving the Islanders shots as well. With 3:51 left in the second period, Vladdy zooms down the ice locked on wanting to stop an Islander play. He meets up with Johnny Boychuk, the lead Islander defenseman and locks up with him.

He raises his stick up and it gets entangled with the Islanders, coming close to his head. Vladdy rounds the goal as the play is stopped. He spots the referees coming over and he immediately shakes his head.

"I didn't do anything! He high-sticked me!! Oh come on! Open your eyes ref!" Vladdy screams at the closest referee.

The referee taps him on the arm as he skates by him. "Your stick was close, I'm calling you, go to the box."

"That's BS!" Vladdy continues to argue, but slowly skates to the penalty box once more.

"Two minutes for high sticking, number ninety, Vladislav Namestnikov," the referee and announcer inform the crowd to many "boos."

Vladdy takes a seat once more and drops his head. He can't believe that he is in the box again...he feels bad for his team, who has to kill yet another penalty. It gets even worse when he watches as the Islanders pin the Lightning in their own zone and pressure them. "Get it out!" he begs to his team. "Come on."

But Bailey sends a hard wrist shot past Ben Bishop to complete a give-and-go sequence with Brock Nelson. The Islanders cut the deficit in half with the goal. Vladdy sees his teammates irked by the goal and he watches the Islanders celebrate. He gets to his feet in the box in disbelief. He had done this! Because of him, the Islanders had scored. It rocks him a little bit. He launches from the box once again and heads to the bench.

His teammates pat him and reassure him that it isn't his fault. He hears someone in the arena shout out, "IT'S NOT YOUR FAULT VLADDY!!" He shakes his head to clear it and focuses on the task once more. He won't - can't - allow another goal to happen, not with him on the ice.

Luckily for him, he is able to make that happen, but unfortunately, Clutterbuck, another Islander, ties the game at 16:51 in the second period, when he pokes a loose puck past Bishop after the Lightning defenseman, Coburn misplays the puck.

And then a little later on, Griess, the Islander's goalie, keeps his team in striking range with a couple big saves. He stops Steven on a penalty shot at 10:26 and makes a save on Valtteri Filppula on a breakaway as well.

The second period comes to a depressing end and the Lightning return to the locker room, where Coach Cooper scolds them and gives them a thorough talking to.

After the talk, they return to the bench and ice for the third period.

Toward the end of the period, Erik Condra heads to the box for a hooking penalty. John Tavares, the captain of the Islanders, and Nielsen each put a shot on goal from close range. The Tampa Bay goalie tried to dive to cover the loose puck, but Tavares pokes it under the goalie's pads and into the net, scoring a goal.

The crowd in Amalie Arena instantly lights up with noise as the Islanders celebrate their comeback. The fans call for a review of the goal, but it doesn't happen. They shout at the coach to challenge the goal, thinking that it never happened but Coach Cooper doesn't flinch or give in. The goal stands and the Lightning are down 3-2 now.

Vladdy hangs his head as the clock ticks down to 00.00. Three loses in a row. Three. Something is definitely wrong with the team. He looks to his side and sees Nikita's lips quivering with worry.

"Vladdy..." Nikita whimpers, turning to look at him. "Pally and TJ. Мы в них нуждается. (We need them.)"

Vladdy knows that his friend is right. They do need Ondrej Palat and Tyler Johnson...and more than that, they - mostly Vladdy - need to figure out what is happening and why the Tampa Bay Lightning can't score this season...