Mike Brophy

Veteran hockey columnist Mike Brophy writes Mondays, Wednesdays and Friday on Sportsnet.ca and appears regularly on Hockeycentral.

Seen Stamkos?

You remember that little teaser of an introduction of the team's future star to the Tampa Bay Lightning fans two summers ago, huh? Went over like a lead balloon; kind of like how the Lightning has gone over this season.

If you want to find Stamkos' team, just look toward the bottom of the NHL's overall standings. Yep, that's the Lightning sitting in 28th place.

That's the bad news. The good news is the 20-year-old has become one of the NHL's most productive players, currently in seventh among the league's top scorers with 88 points in 78 games. Perhaps more importantly, the Markham, Ont., native is in a battle with the league's top two players -- Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals -- in a race for the Rocket Richard Trophy which is awarded annually to the NHL's top goal-scorer.

Crosby leads the way with 47 goals in 77 games while Stamkos and Ovechkin are one behind.

Be honest, at the start of the season you might have suggested Ovechkin would be right there in the race for the Rocket, but Crosby and Stamkos?

Up to this season, Crosby has always been more of a playmaker than a finisher. The 39 goals he scored in his rookie season of 2005-06 was his single-season high until this year. However, when Crosby added a little curve to his stick prior to this season, you just knew he was getting down to business and taking aim at a higher goal total. It has worked for the most part.

Other than a two-goal performance against the Toronto Maple Leafs March 28, Crosby has been mired in a goal slump with no goals in nine of his last 10 outings. That could wind up costing him dearly. The Penguins have four games left including one Tuesday against Ovechkin's Capitals. That game could go a long way toward deciding who wins the Richard Trophy.

Ovechkin has had a controversial season including receiving a two-game suspension for shoving Chicago Blackhawks defenceman Brian Campbell into the boards, a hit that resulted in Campbell breaking his collarbone. Still, he remains one of hockey's most lethal shooters and is taking dead aim at his third straight Rocket Richard Trophy. He won it two years ago with 56 goals and again last year with 46. If he wins it outright, he would be the first player to ever win the award, which was first presented in 1998-99, three years in a row.

Ovechkin hasn't scored in his last three games and has just one goal in his last six games. Aside from Tuesday's meeting with Crosby and the Penguins, Ovechkin has two other games remaining against Boston and Atlanta. He needs to kick it back into gear if he hopes to catch and then pass his nemesis from Pittsburgh.

As much as Crosby has fashioned his game differently to score more often, Stamkos has to be considered a surprise to be amongst the potential winners of the Richard Trophy. The first overall pick in the 2008 NHL entry draft has been a bright light in an otherwise very dull year for the underachieving Lightning. He didn't score in Tampa Bay's first two games this year, but then went on a tear scoring 11 goals in his next 10 games to serve notice that he had arrived as a big-time player.

Stamkos is very fortunate to be playing on a line with Martin St-Louis, one of the NHL's better passers. The two have worked magic this year; St-Louis digging pucks out of traffic and passing them to Stamkos who specializes in the one-timer. The Lightning have four games remaining and you can bet St-Louis will be doing his best to make sure Stamkos is fed a steady diet of potential one-timers.

Like the others, Stamkos has hit a bit of a wall and has just one goal in his last four games. With nothing to play for other than personal pride, Stamkos can put all his emphasis on offence in his team's final games.

At the end of the day it is hard to argue against Ovechkin being the NHL's best goal-scorer. He has played 10 fewer games than Stamkos and nine fewer than Crosby. But the Rocket Richard Trophy is not awarded to the players with the most goals-per-game; it's for the most goals, period.

The Crosby-Ovechkin-Stamkos goal derby will make the final week of the season worth watching. Any bets on who wins the Richard? My heart says Stamkos, but my head says Crosby.