We've all either seen or been in attendance when a team wins a championship on the road and they're met upon returning home at the airport by a large contingent of fans. It's a great way to begin the championship celebrations that will continue for the next few days.

A recent trend has seen fans seeing off and welcoming home teams from playoff road trips, not just when they win a championship. During the first two rounds, Nashville Predators fans greeted and sent off the team at Nashville International Airport.

Sunday morning, as the Tampa Bay Lightning prepared to travel up to Boston for Game 5 against the Bruins on Monday night, the team organized an interesting way for fans to wish the players good luck and send them up north.

Fans gathered in one of the parking lots at the Tampa airport and formed a human lightning bolt, visible to the players when they took off.

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Your move Bruins fans. We fully expect a human spoked B in a parking lot at Logan Airport on Tuesday morning when

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No. 1 Star: Mike Smith, Tampa Bay Lightning

After Dwayne Roloson allowed three first period goals, Lightning head coach Guy Boucher called upon Smith at the start of the second period. Twenty one saves later, Smith had stabilized the defense, while the Lightning offense put five unanswered goals past Tim Thomas for a 5-3 come-from-behind win to tie their series 2-2.

No. 2 Star: Simon Gagne, Tampa Bay Lightning

While Smith has the defensive MVP for the Lightning, Gagne was the offensive catalyst with a goal and two assists, including the game-winner 6:54 into the third period.

No. 3 Star: Teddy Purcell, Tampa Bay Lightning

Purcell entered Game 4 with two goals in the playoffs and in a 1:03 span matched that output to spark the Tampa comeback. He had scored just once since Game 6 of the first round against Pittsburgh.

Honorable mention: Patrice Bergeron scored two of Boston's three first period goals ... Sean Bergenheim nows leads all players with nine goals ...Vincent Lecavalier won

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As talks to finalize a sale between True North Sports and Entertainment and the Atlanta Spirit Group continue on for the ownership of the Atlanta Thrashers, the franchise continued planning for the 2011-12 NHL season as fans rallied to show support for its future.

Two days after a Globe and Mail report stated that a deal for the Thrashers to move to Winnipeg was done, the team went forward with its planned Select-a-Seat event allowing fans to choose their seats as part of season ticket packages.

Outside Philips Arena, in the parking area known as "The Gulch", about 300 fans attended the "Save the Thrashers" rally according to Yahoo!'s own Jay Busbee, who writes for the From the Marbles and Devil Ball Golf blogs. Fans chanted, expressed their support for the 11-year old franchise and anger towards ownership, and some even burned a Winnipeg Jets banner.

The Atlanta Journal Constitution spoke with a couple of fans at the rally:

For some, today's events in Atlanta was an opportunity for

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Moments after the Tampa Lightning saluted the St. Pete Times Forum crowd in celebration of their series-evening 5-3 win over the Boston Bruins, Simon Gagne told NBC's Joe Micheletti "we believed it" in response to what sparked their comeback.

Taking on the task of having to claw back into the game after a three-goal first period from the Bruins, Gagne helped make Tampa's belief become a reality by scoring a goal and assisting on two others during their five-goal rally.

It was 6:54 into the third period that Gagne broke the 3-3 tie, making what looked like a sure victory for Boston early on into a series knotted up at two games apiece.

The Bruins looked scattered and out of synch during Tampa's comeback and Tomas Kaberle contributed to that by continuing his postseason struggles. Kaberle was unable to contain the puck behind the Boston net leading to Sean Bergenheim's goal to tie the game and had he played the shot when Gagne was in tight on the winning goal, it would have never made

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What will we see this afternoon in Game 4 between the Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning? Will it be the high-scoring, "pond hockey"-type show from Games 1 and 2 or the tight goaltending duel from Thursday night's Game 3?

If the Bruins are defensive-minded with Patrice Bergeron back in the lineup, you know Lightning head coach Guy Boucher already has a plan to counteract that and attempt to even up the series.

But it's not just Boucher's coaching scheme that will help Tampa win today. The Lightning players need a better response to the slower pace that Boston will try to play. The littlest of mistakes cost them in Game 3 and that's something that at this point in the Stanley Cup playoffs is lethal. And falling behind early -- 69 seconds to be exact -- forced a game of catch up for Tampa, something that cost them later on according to Boucher.

From The Tampa Tribune:

"It was energy level, let's not kid ourselves," Boucher said of the final two periods on Thursday. "They had to

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No. 1 Star: Joe Thornton, San Jose Sharks

The San Jose captain was key in the Sharks building a 3-0 first period lead by assisting on both Patrick Marleau goals and he would later help set up Dan Boyle's tally in the third period that turned out to be the game-winner in a 4-3 victory. Vancouver leads the series 2-1. Only Dan Boyle played more than Thornton (25:35) in Game 3 with Jumbo spending 10:33 on the power play. Thornton now leads all scorers in the playoffs with 17 points.

No. 2 Star: Patrick Marleau, San Jose Sharks

Marleau continued his hot streak by scoring a pair in the opening period and assisting on Boyle's goal in the third period for a three-point night. Since Jeremy Roenick called him "gutless" after Game 5 versus Detroit, Marleau has scored five times in five games.

No. 3 Star: Dan Boyle, San Jose Sharks

Boyle's blast between Roberto Luongo's five-hole would stand as the game-winner after a third period Vancouver comeback:

Boyle has points in seven of his last eight

BOOGAARD copy11A week ago Friday, Derek Boogaard passed away unexpectedly at the age of 28 after being found in his Minneapolis apartment by friends. Saturday, he'll be laid to rest in his hometown of Regina, Saskatchewan.

The cause of death was unknown until an autopsy could be completed. Friday, the Hennepin County Medical Examiner ruled that Boogaard's death was caused by an accidental mixture of alcohol and oxycodone, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Oxycodone is a painkiller typically prescribed to treat severe pain. It can be addictive and like many drugs, can prove fatal if mixed with alcohol.

The New York Post reported last Saturday that Boogaard was in the NHL/NHLPA Substance Abuse and Behavioral Program at the time of his death.

In the days since Boogaard's passing, his family has announced they will donate his brain to researchers at Boston University who study degenerative disease in athletes. In March, those same researchers found traces of CTE, chronic traumatic

Here are your Puck Headlines: a glorious collection of news and views collected from the greatest blogosphere in sports and the few, the proud, the mainstream hockey media.

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• Via the Puck Daddy Facebook page, Antti Wennstrom gives us the view, in LEGO form, of Pasi Nurminen before his fall into the IIHF world championship trophy.

BREAKING: Per Katie Strang of Newsday, the Hennepin County Medical Examiner has ruled Derek Boogaard's death accidental caused from "mixed alcohol and oxycodone toxicity".

UPDATE: Wysh is away for the weekend, but Puck Daddy Radio lives on as Pizzo and Troy White hold down the fort. You can listen to today's show here featuring Jim Hughson of CBC.

• While still yet official, Winnipeg's mayor Sam Katz says it's only "a matter of time" before the deal is finalized. [Winnipeg Free Press]

• Optimism is at an all-time high in Winnipeg. [National Post via CBC]

• Why Gary Bettman wants to put the hurt on the Atlanta Spirit ownership group as the