The Lightning Deserve the Stanley Cup for This ‘Mario Kart’ Ice Projection

Things aren’t great for the Tampa Bay Lightning, who find themselves down 2-1 to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the NHL’s Eastern Conference Finals, but at least their ice projections are on point.

During last night’s game, the Bolts beamed a game of Mario Kart onto the ice at Amalie Arena – maybe they were looking to pass Sidney Crosby and Co. via the Rainbow Road shortcut? – and while it didn’t help their cause (Tampa lost 4-2), at least it was different from the usual assortment of flames, fissures and, uh, fire-breathing dragons we normally see projected onto the playing surface.

Here’s a bit of video, shot by Pittsburgh Post-Gazette sportswriter Seth Rorabaugh (who notes that Tampa’s ice palace is essentially a very cold Dave & Buster’s):

This place is like a big Dave and Busters. They’re playing Mario Kart on the ice: pic.twitter.com/G3Qbu8PzgS

— Seth Rorabaugh (@emptynetters) May 19, 2016

As Deadspin suggests, while the Stanley Cup Playoffs are great and all, we’d probably pay to watch 60 minutes of this massive Mario Kart game – with all the hockey played between periods. And judging by their over-the-top pregame projections, the Lightning are prepared to make that happen: