What do you need to know about last nights big stories? Scott Burnside gives us his take on the biggest and best.Lightning will be fine: Game 1 of life without Steven Stamkos (version 3) started pretty much as I expected it would, as the Tampa Bay Lightning beat up on the hapless Buffalo Sabres 4-1 Thursday for their third straight win. The Lightning have over the past few years been forced to play for long periods of time without their captain and offensive dynamo, and they have done so for the most with aplomb. Now theyre faced with a four-month absence after Stamkos underwent surgery Thursday to repair a meniscus tear in his right knee. If there is a team capable of absorbing this kind of body blow, its the Lightning. Im not going to go all hyperbolic and call this a statement game, but on a night when youd expect your veterans to step up, Nikita Kucherov scored his ninth and?Alex Killorn, who had been scoreless in 10 games, delivered a goal and an assist as the Lightning served notice they wont be feeling sorry for themselves in the absence of their captain.Blues bounce back: Its been a weird November for the St. Louis Blues, who had lost five of eight games heading into their first meeting of the season with Western Conference-champion San Jose Sharks Thursday night. Three times the Blues have allowed at least five goals -- very un-Ken Hitchcock like. But in the first rematch of last springs Western Conference finalists, the Blues got back to Blues hockey, clipping the Sharks 3-2. Jaden Schwartz, so key to a Blues team looking for a new generation of leaders, chipped in two goals to give him five in six games after a slow start and Jake Allen, whos had his ups and downs in November, was at times spectacular, turning aside 29 of 31 shots. The Blues, meanwhile, continue to dominate at home, running their record to 7-1-2. The loss, the second in a row, drops the Sharks, who were the kings of the road last season, to a pedestrian 5-6 away from the Shark Tank.Oilers slide continues: Im going to take some responsibility for the Edmonton Oilers plunge off the proverbial cliff. It was a little more than a week ago I saw them in Pittsburgh, and even though they fell 4-3, there was a sense of optimism that this was a team on the rise. Uhm. No. The Oilers are proving that kind of renaissance doesnt happen overnight -- or in their case, over a decade -- as theyve now lost five straight and seven of nine after Thursdays 4-2 loss at home to the undermanned Los Angeles Kings. Connor McDavid hasnt scored in 10 games and was minus-3, and the Oil have been outscored 18-9 during the losing skid. Amazingly, the team still holds onto a playoff spot thanks to its strong start but sadly the past seems very much like the future for the Oilers.Custom Jets Jerseys . 10 Texas Rangers jersey for one last time. Young formally announced his retirement Friday after returning to Rangers Ballpark, his baseball home for all but the last of his 13 major league seasons. Cheap Jets Jerseys . The injury bothered Bledsoe in the Suns victory over the Clippers on Monday and he sat out the teams home loss to Memphis on Thursday night. http://www.customjetsjersey.com/ . - Levi Browns tenure at left tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers is over before it even began. Custom Jets T-shirts . While hell be dialed in to that tournament on a course he loves, you can forgive him if his eyes glance down the calendar just a bit, towards April. Custom Quinnen Williams Jersey . -- Whether Jeremy Hill deserves a prominent role in LSUs offence this early in the season is a matter for debate.FLINT, Mich. -- A judge on Monday dismissed all charges against former Michigan State basketball star Mateen Cleaves, who was accused of sexually assaulting a woman after a charity golf event and a visit to a bar in 2015.Judge Cathy Dowd in Flint, Michigan, heard days of testimony, including details from the woman, who said she twice tried to get away from Cleaves but was pulled back into a motel room and sexually assaulted.A witness confirmed that she saw the woman try to escape a room at the Knights Inn near Flint. But a police officer summoned to the motel said the woman never indicated that she was assaulted.Cleaves, 39, was charged with unlawful imprisonment, assault with intent to commit sexual penetration, second-degree criminal sexual conduct and third-degree criminal sexual conduct. He pleaded not guilty.The Associated Press generally doesnt name people who say they were sexually assaulted. The woman testified that she never said no to Cleaves but I told him I wanted to go home. They met at a golf event that day, and she later sent him a text message to join her and others at a bar.In dismissing the charges, the judge said there were credibility prooblems with the womans testimony.ddddddddddddIm supposed to believe hes pulling her back in the room to commit criminal sexual conduct, Dowd said. There are a number of factors that lead me to believe something else could be going on. She is the one that invited Mr. Cleaves to come to the bar. She is the one that voluntarily left with Mr. Cleaves to go someplace else.The legal standard to send someone to trial in Michigan is probable cause. Its a much lower threshold than beyond a reasonable doubt, which determines guilt or innocence at trial. Prosecutors said theyll appeal Dowds decision.Defense attorney Frank Manley said it was a case of regret, not rape.But prosecutor Lisa Lindsey said if the woman didnt want to be at the motel with Cleaves, then why did she run out of the room desperately trying to get away from the defendant?Cleaves led Michigan State to the NCAA basketball championship in 2000 and remains close to the program. Mateen is the middle name of coach Tom Izzos son.Cleaves appeared in 167 games for four NBA teams. ' ' '