Matt Carle earned two assists in Thursday's thumping of the Florida Panthers. Carle has three assists, nine shots and a plus-3 rating in four games this year. Sami Salo and Alex Killorn also recorded two helpers apiece in Thursday's 7-2 victory.

Matt Carle played on the first power play Thursday with the injury to Sami Salo. Salo usually gets first power play time with four forwards so the first unit of Martin St. Louis, Steve Stamkos, Teddy Purcell and Ryan Malone were not used to playing alongside Carle. Carle will see second power play time once Salo returns so look for a 35-40 point season from the veteran Carle.

Matt Carle registered an assist on Sunday. That extended Carle's point streak to a career-high five contests. That helped him bury a particularly cold patch from late February to late March. He has four goals and 18 points in 38 games this season and should be able to maintain that pace for the remainder of the campaign.

Matt Carle had a two-point night in Tampa Bay's 4-2 loss to the Islanders on Saturday night. Carle, who had a goal and a helper, now has points in four straight games. The goal was his fourth, and he now has 17 points. Richard Panik had the other goal, his second of the year. Vincent Lecavalier , Steven Stamkos and Benoit Pouliot had assists.

The Lightning want to use Ottawa's resiliency in the face of numerous injuries as an inspiration for themselves. The Lightning have lost 54 man games due to injury and are 12th in the East, as compared to the Senators who have lost key players and are fifth. "Ottawa is probably one of the better teams in dealing with that type of adversity so I think we could try to take a page out of their book,'' Lightning defenseman Matt Carle said. "You never use injuries as an excuse, they are part of the game and it's just how you react to having guys out of the lineup.''

Matt Carle scored his second goal in a Tampa Bay uniform in the Lightning's 4-2 loss to New Jersey on Thursday. Carle has been a strong addition to Tampa's blueline this campaign, where he has logged plenty of ice time and contributed seven points in 10 contests. Nate Thompson scored the club's other marker in the match, while Martin St. Louis picked up two assists.

Matt Carle has received great reviews from his new team in Tampa Bay. "He gives false information (deception) when he handles the puck, which is really important because it gives our players more time now to get open," coach Guy Boucher said. "He really added on to our defensive game and our our offensive game." Carle has been paired with Eric Brewer on the Lightning, where he has averaged nearly 23 minutes of ice time per match. He has also been solid offensively with a goal and two assists, with seven shots, in five games.

We expect Matt Carle to have a nice offensive season in Tampa. He should get plenty of time on the team's first power-play unit alongside superstars Steven Stamkos and Martin St. Louis and could easily register 25-28 points (almost 50 in a full season) in 2013. He is also a strong sleeper candidate.

Matt Carle has received the "blessing" of former captain Dave Andreychuk to wear No. 25 this season. No player on the Lightning has worn the number since Andreychuk retired after the 2005-06 season and many believe that it should've been retired by the organization for his contributions, which included a Stanley Cup in 2004. Carle donned No. 25 when he played in Philadelphia and Mattias Ohlund has No. 5 now, which was his number when he played for the Bolts back in 2008-09.

Matt Carle has inked a six-year, $33 million contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning. He posted four goals and 38 points in 82 games with the Philadelphia Flyers last season. Carle also recorded 164 blocked shots and averaged 23:01 of ice time per contest. He was a member of the Lightning during the 2008-09 campaign prior to being traded to the Flyers. The Bolts have improved their back end this off-season with the additions of Carle and Sami Salo, as both them should factor into the team's top four group.