TAMPA, FLA. - There was a face-off with 38 seconds to play and Steven Stamkos stood on the bench waiting for his name to be called.
He never moved.
He never said a word.
Needing a goal to send Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final to overtime, the Tampa Bay Lightning left the sport’s second most prolific scorer on the bench, coach Jon Cooper making a mostly odd decision. He stayed with Ryan Callahan as his extra forward, with the goalie out. He never called for Stamkos.
He made a conscious decision to stay with Callahan, with one goal in the playoffs, while his hottest scorer, shooter Stamkos, parked his six-goals-in-10-games butt on the pine.