Stamkos Maturing Right Before Our Eyes

from Pierre LeBrun of ESPN, So it was interesting indeed this week to see how Stamkos would react when coach Rick Tocchet decided to break up the pair, moving the cure-all St. Louis to the struggling top line with Vincent Lecavalier and putting gritty Steve Downie with Stamkos and Ryan Malone on the second unit. The result? The new second line produced three goals while Stamkos put up a pair, including an empty-netter, in a 5-2 win over the Sharks on Thursday night. “Obviously playing with Marty has been great, we’ve had a lot of success together,” said Stamkos. “But the coaching staff decided we needed to change things up to get the team going. I actually played with Downie last year and we had some success. “You know, as much as it’s nice to play with Marty, you do have to show you can play without a guy of his talent and still create chances. It was nice to play well last night, win the game, and prove as a team that we can play with two solid offensive lines.” He’s only 19, folks, but Stamkos has maturity beyond his years. Again, St.. Louis has had something to do with that, as does a solid upbringing, thanks to his parents; so does going through his first rough patch of his hockey career last season. more