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Lightning G Eddie Pasquale may have chosen well to return to Syracuse

Pasquale figures to get a start Tuesday in Detroit, or at least soon, and it would be his first NHL game.
 
Published Dec. 3, 2018|Updated Dec. 3, 2018

NEWARK — Eddie Pasquale had opportunities to play overseas. After seven years in the AHL and ECHL without a taste of NHL action, the Lightning goalie considered taking them this offseason.

After all, the money is better in Europe than it is in the minor leagues.

"I know Julien (BriseBois, general manager) really wanted me back this year, and I liked playing in Syracuse last year," Pasquale said. "So I thought I'd give it another year, maybe another two years, here and then maybe go overseas. I'm at that point in my career where it's starting to wind down and I'm just looking for a chance."

That decision looks like it will pay off for Pasquale. He figures to get a start against Detroit on Tuesday, or if not then, soon. Coach Jon Cooper didn't commit to anything ("We take things one game at a time here"), but goalies rarely start two games in two nights and after 11 consecutive starts, G Louis Domingue could probably use a day off.

The Lightning sent Pasquale, 28, back to the AHL for the weekend, so he could play a couple of games after two weeks on the bench. That alone points to him playing soon — what else do you knock the rust off for?

It was good for Pasquale to see live shots, the kind that you don't see in a practice. That's especially true because most of Pasquale's practice was coming in shorter morning skates, not many full-team practice sessions.

"It's just to kind of get your routine back, when you go into a game, you might be too amped up and have too much energy," he said. "You're chasing pucks, sliding all over the place. You just want to get back to that relaxed feel, let the pucks come to you and kind of hit you. That's what going down there allowed me to do, get that control back."

Pasquale tries to keep from chasing the puck and "sliding around," as he said a couple of times in a short conversation. He prefers to use his 6-foot-3 frame and let the pucks come to him, remaining calm and seeing how play develops.

Of course, Paquale didn't want to see G Andrei Vasilevskiy, who he credited as one of the best goalies in the world, get hurt. He's like D Erik Cernak, though, trying to take advantage of an opportunity created by an injury.

"You don't want to see that, but it does give another guy an opportunity here," Pasquale said. "I just need to take it day-by-day, see what happens."