Lightning's Pierre-Edouard Bellemare: Rare goal on emotional night
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Bellemare scored a goal Saturday in a 5-2 win over the Kings.
It was an emotional night for Bellemare, whose mother died this week. He said "she would've been proud" of his goal, which came off a wrister from the slot. He doesn't contribute much in fantasy (three goals and four assists in 46 games), but Bellemare plays important minutes, especially at the end of the game to shut things down. And he's beloved by his teammates, who rallied around him on the ice and on the bench, and were genuinely excited by his snipe.
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Lightning's Pierre-Edouard Bellemare: Two assists in last four games
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Bellemare picked up an assist Tuesday in a 6-3 win over the Blue Jackets.
He set up Vladislav Namestnikov in the second period to push the Bolts up 3-1. Bellemare has two assists in his last four games, and five points (one goal, four assists) in 37 games this season.
Bellemare opened the scoring in Thursday's 4-1 win over the Blue Jackets.
Bellemare wired a wrist shot from the left circle for his first goal of the season. The 37-year-old is limited to a fourth-line, penalty-killing role, so he's off the map in fantasy circles.
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Lightning's Pierre-Edouard Bellemare: Pitches in helper
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Bellemare recorded an assist Saturday in a 5-3 win over the Islanders.
Bellemare sustained a knee injury in the postseason, but he played through it, and he's participated in all six games for the Bolts to start the 2022-23 campaign. The 37-year-old is averaging 11:03 of ice time -- which is a career low -- and that should increase his chances of making it through the long season.
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Lightning's Pierre-Edouard Bellemare: Plays through knee injury
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Bellemare was dealing with a meniscus injury during the postseason, Joe Smith of The Athleticreports Tuesday.
Considering Bellemare played 23 postseason games while dealing with this knee issue, fantasy players shouldn't be expecting this to carry into next season. The veteran center is under contract for one more season with the Bolts and should continue to fill a bottom-six role.
Bellemare scored the game-winning goal Tuesday in a 4-1 win over the Panthers in Game 1.
Bellemare put his team up 2-1 with a wrist shot from the right hash marks after Sergei Bobrovsky stopped a shot by Corey Perry. It was his second goal of this postseason (eight games) and fourth in 64 career playoff contests.
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Lightning's Pierre-Edouard Bellemare: Bulges twine in Game 4
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Bellemare scored a goal on two shots in Sunday's 7-3 win over the Maple Leafs in Game 4.
Bellemare tallied at 5:20 of the first period to give the Lightning a 2-0 lead. He had just one assist in his previous nine games dating back to the regular season. The 37-year-old center has just three shots on net and six hits to go with his goal in four playoff contests. He's defensively sound, so he'll likely remain in the lineup throughout the Lightning's playoff run.
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Lightning's Pierre-Edouard Bellemare: Suiting up Sunday
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Bellemare (lower body) will play Sunday against Florida, Joe Smith of The Athletic reports.
Bellemare will return after a one-game absence. He's tallied 19 points in 76 games this season and will skate in a bottom-six role Sunday.
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Lightning's Pierre-Edouard Bellemare: Dealing with lower-body injury
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Bellemare (lower body) won't play Saturday versus the Predators, Erik Erlendsson of LightningInsider.com reports.
Bellemare was shaken up in Thursday's 8-1 win over the Maple Leafs. The Lightning have the luxury of being able to rest their older veterans, so Bellemare will sit out at least one game with the injury, which didn't prevent him from finishing the last contest. He'll aim to play Sunday versus the Panthers.
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Lightning's Pierre-Edouard Bellemare: More to game than points
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Bellemare has just two points in his last 20 games.
His value to the team is immeasurable, though, and it's not because of offense. Bellemare is a leader in the room and on the penalty kill for Tampa Bay. He's one of the team's fastest skaters, even at 37, and contributes a bit in hits and faceoff wins. Bellemare has 14 hits and 57 FOW in his last 10 games.
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Lightning's Pierre-Edouard Bellemare: Chips in with assist
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Bellemare notched an assist and two shots on goal in Sunday's 2-1 win over the Canucks.
Bellemare ended a five-game point drought with a helper on Victor Hedman's opening tally. More of a defensive center, Bellemare's contributions on offense aren't frequent. The 37-year-old has 17 points, 57 shots on net, 63 hits and a plus-21 rating through 58 contests overall.
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Lightning's Pierre-Edouard Bellemare: First multi-point game of 2021-22
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Bellemare scored a goal and an assist in Tuesday's 6-3 win over New Jersey.
Bellemare assisted on Victor Hedman's game-winning goal 7:17 into the third period before extending Tampa Bay's lead to 6-3 just 3:04 later. The 36-year-old center has 15 points in 48 games, and this was his first multi-point performance of the season.
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Lightning's Pierre-Edouard Bellemare: Mistake-free hockey goes unnoticed
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Bellemare has three points in his last 10 games, but no points in his last five.
Bellemare is a strong depth forward whose play goes unnoticed because he doesn't stand bout but rarely makes mistakes. He's not really counted on for scoring, but won 60 face-offs through those 10 games. Bellemare's contributions in other secondary categories are marginal, so he's much better on the ice than in the fantasy arena.
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Lightning's Pierre-Edouard Bellemare: Logs assist in blowout win
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Bellemare posted an assist and two shots on goal in Saturday's 7-1 win over the Sharks.
Bellemare set up Corey Perry for the fourth of the Lightning's first-period tallies. The 36-year-old Bellemare continues to pick up steady offense in a third-line role, as he has two goals and three helpers in his last 10 outings. The French center is at 13 points, 41 shots on net, a plus-13 rating and 53 hits in 42 contests overall. He won't see much power-play time, but his physical play and moderate offense may be useful in deeper fantasy formats.
Bellemare scored a shorthanded goal, logged three hits and went plus-2 in Tuesday's 6-4 win over the Kings.
Bellemare converted on a pass from Mathieu Joseph at 14:40 of the second period. Through eight games in January, Bellemare has picked up a pair of goals and two assists. The 36-year-old has 12 points in 40 games this year, which surpasses his 11-point effort from 53 contests last season. The French center has added 38 shots on net, 53 hits and a plus-13 rating in a mainly defensive role on the third line.
Bellemare exited COVID-19 protocols on Thursday, per Joe Smith of The Athletic.
Bellemare has recorded two goals and one assist through his nine December appearances. The Lightning have been red-hot, winning nine of their last 10 games.
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Lightning's Pierre-Edouard Bellemare: Lands on COVID-19 list
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Bellemare landed in the COVID-19 protocols Sunday, according to Joe Smith of The Athletic.
Bellemare is one of four Tampa Bay players that landed on the COVID-19 list Sunday, with the others being defenseman Mikhail Sergachev and goaltenders Andrei Vasilevskiy and Brian Elliott, as well as assistant coach Rob Zettler. Bellemare, a 36-year-old center, has only seven points across 30 appearances in his first year with the Lightning, so his absence is not likely to affect many fantasy rosters.
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Lightning's Pierre-Edouard Bellemare: Scores on former team
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Bellemare scored a goal on two shots in Tuesday's 4-3 win over the Golden Knights.
Bellemare tallied in the second period to spark the Lightning's comeback effort. The 36-year-old spent two years with the Golden Knights from 2017 to 2019. This season, Bellemare's at three goals, four assists, 25 shots on net, 37 hits and a plus-10 rating through 30 contests while filling a third-line role.
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Lightning's Pierre-Edouard Bellemare: Opens scoring early
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Bellemare scored a goal and added two PIM in Friday's 3-0 win over the Kraken.
Bellemare scored just 2:52 into the game, and Andrei Vasilevskiy had no problem making that stand as the game-winner in the shutout. The 36-year-old Bellemare is renowned as a solid defensive center, which will keep him in the lineup, but he's up to just three points, 17 shots and 29 hits through 19 contests. His career high is 22 points in 69 games with the Avalanche two years ago, so there's little reason to spend a roster spot on the French center outside the deepest of formats.
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Lightning's Pierre-Edouard Bellemare: Earns helper in commanding win
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Bellemare produced an assist on the way to a 5-1 win over the Penguins on Tuesday.
The 36-year-old also skated to a plus-2 rating to cap off a strong performance. Bellemare is a fourth-line center without much fanfare in the fantasy realm, but the Bolts seems to be getting a nice return on the investment given that he's a key role player on the books for the next two seasons at $1 million AAV.
