They sure start them young in Tampa Bay.

A small Lightning fan was seen "driving" a "Zamboni" during the first intermission between the hometown team and the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night.

Thankfully, the child was strapped in safely, considering the blazing speed at which the model contraption flew around the corners.

Let's just be glad the young speed demon won't be tearing up the roads for a while.

(Video courtesy: NHL.com)

Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Read the room.

The ability to do so and act accordingly is an important leadership trait, and one Glen Gulutzan appears to have benefited from mid-way through his first season as head coach of the Calgary Flames.

Scene: After a rough 5-1 loss in Montreal back in January - their fourth L in a row - the Flames were en route to Ottawa via train, and the attendants had been instructed not to serve the players any adult beverages.

Enter Gultzan, and a few frosty brews.

"Just in my gut, sitting there as we were driving for the first 10-15 minutes, the whole thing didn’t feel right. I wanted to move forward, not backwards," Gulutzan said, per Wes Gilbertson of the Calgary Sun.

"I just said, 'I'm putting the beer back here and you guys are going to sit down with your headphones off and you’re gonna figure this out. We're gonna figure this bleeping thing out. Because we're a good team, you're gonna figure this thing out.' That's exactly what I told them."

The rest is history.

Calgary went on to win its next game against the Senators, and has since clinched a Western Conference playoff spot.

It may have been a small gesture on the part of the head coach, but it went a long way toward easing the tension.

"It was a big part of our season to be able to just forget that game," said defenseman Deryk Engelland. "To be able to just put it aside hours later and come together as a team, it just showed how tight we are and it made us even tighter. I guess that was kind of the turning point of our season. I think all the boys will remember that one."

Especially if their season ends with a little bit of the bubbly.

Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Call it the Finnish "Miracle on Ice."

History was made Saturday night, as Finland edged Canada 4-3 in preliminary round play at the women's World Hockey Championship to earn its first-ever victory over the Canadians in women's hockey.

It was also Canada's first-ever loss to a nation other than the United States in IIHF competition.

Ronja Savolainen scored the winner with 1:41 remaining, intercepting a clearing attempt and firing a shot past Canadian goaltender Genevieve Lacasse.

Finnish goalie Noora Raty compared the stunning victory to a "semi-pro team beating a pro team," according to Sportsnet's Kristina Rutherford.

It was indeed Canada's second consecutive defeat at this year's tourney, following a 2-0 loss to the U.S. in their opening game Friday.

"We're giving it our all right now, but we're not clicking," Canada forward Brianne Jenner said. "We're just struggling right now."

The Canadians wrap up their preliminary round schedule against Russia on Monday, while Finland faces the defending champion American squad later that night.

Canada now must play a quarterfinal game Tuesday, instead of having its customary bye to the semfinal.

So what's the Finnish word for miracle?

"Ihme!" Riikka Valila answered postgame Saturday, according to the tournament's official website.

Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Ottawa Senators are holding on for dear life.

While a playoff spot remains well within their grasp, four straight losses have allowed the Toronto Maple Leafs to pass the Senators for second place in the Atlantic Division. Ottawa is also in danger of falling to the second wild-card spot, with the Boston Bruins right on their heels.

Making matters worse are injuries on the blue line, as Cody Ceci - who'll miss at least the next game - was forced to leave Saturday's action, with Erik Karlsson and Marc Methot already sidelined.

Head coach Guy Boucher doesn't seem to be sweating it, though.

"We've had unbelievable adversity all year long," Boucher said Saturday, according to Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia. "It started in training camp, and if you would have told us we'd be here fighting for that spot, I would have told you that's a good spot to be in. We're in the spot now. It's about fighting until the end, and it's probably going to be a fight right to (the) end.

"We're going to battle until the end, and, hopefully, some of the guys will be able to come back. It's not about whose injured. We've got to stick together."

Ottawa has five games remaining on the schedule, including a key matchup with the Bruins on April 6. Thankfully, Karlsson is listed as day to day, and could be back as soon as Monday.

Avoiding a first-round series with the best team in the Metropolitan Division, however, is definitely something worth fighting for.

Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Cam Talbot is on the verge of making Edmonton Oilers history.

By earning his 40th win of the season with an overtime decision against Anaheim on Saturday, Talbot tied Grant Fuhr's franchise record for most victories in a single regular season.

The Oilers legend responded with a great measure of class.

Talbot responded in kind.

What sets Fuhr apart, of course, is the five Stanley Cups won with the Oilers. But based on the way the past decade has gone in Edmonton, winning a round or two would certainly help boost Talbot's standing in Edmonton hockey history even further.

Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Best in the west.

The idle Chicago Blackhawks clinched the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference and top spot in the Central Division after the Minnesota Wild lost to the Nashville Predators on Sunday afternoon.

The Predators' 3-0 victory gave the Blackhawks their ninth consecutive postseason berth and ensured them of home-ice advantage for the first three rounds of the playoffs.

It's their 16th division title and the second time in franchise history that they've earned the top seed in the conference.

Chicago last entered the playoffs as the best in the West in 2012-13, also the last time it won the Central Division title. That season, the Blackhawks won their second Stanley Cup championship in four years and second of what would ultimately be three titles in a six-year span.

The Blackhawks sit nine points clear of the Wild atop the Central and three points behind the Washington Capitals in the Presidents' Trophy race with four games left in Chicago's regular-season schedule.

Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Edmonton Oilers had plenty of doubters heading into 2016-17, but the former basement-dwellers simply continue to impress.

They did so again Saturday night, temporarily laying claim to the Pacific Division lead with a 3-2 overtime win over the Anaheim Ducks.

Edmonton withstood a fine performance from netminder John Gibson, who played his first game for Anaheim since March 10. Gibson and Co. nearly shut the dominant Oilers' offense down, but veteran Milan Lucic tallied his 19th of the season to tie the game with just two minutes remaining in the third.

With the tilt extending to overtime, McDavid stepped up for his club once again, capitalizing on a gaffe from Ryan Getzlaf before setting up Leon Draisaitl for the winner in extra time.

It was just the latest impressive performance for a club that has dealt with its fair share of doubt in recent years.

Whether it was bringing in oft-maligned defender Kris Russell, signing Lucic to a hefty seven-year contract, or trading away star winger Taylor Hall for rearguard Adam Larsson, Edmonton was undoubtedly expected to falter in 2016-17.

But with just a handful of games remaining, they sit atop their division, the playoffs in sight.

Stellar season-long efforts from McDavid and Cam Talbot have undoubtedly been the central reasons for Edmonton's ascent, but there's no denying the fact that - despite the chorus of jeers - general manager Peter Chiarelli managed to put together a fairly promising squad after all.

Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Kari Lehtonen hopes it isn't too little, too late.

The Dallas Stars netminder has evidently saved his best for the season's closing weeks, using the stretch drive to string together his top performances of the campaign.

On Saturday against the Carolina Hurricanes, Lehtonen recorded his second shutout in his past six outings, turning aside 25 Carolina shots.

No doubt Lehtonen has come on strong in his last half-dozen starts:

In all, Lehtonen is 4-1-1 in his past six outings, putting together a stellar .950 save percentage alongside a minuscule 1.32 goals-against average. The Finnish netminder was honored Monday as the second star of the week.

Like fellow Stars goalie Antti Niemi, Lehtonen is signed through next season, but the possibility remains neither could return as the Stars look to reshape their crease.

But Lehtonen's recent stretch may be enough to recover some of his lost shine. After rotating his netminders for much of the season, Stars coach Lindy Ruff finally has some consistency between the pipes, and Lehtonen's late-season push could be enough to save his spot next year.

Following Saturday's 3-0 victory over the Hurricanes, Ruff told reporters, "When the guys in front of him play well and limit the high-quality opportunities, Kari is the type of goaltender that can feed off them."

Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.