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Wilson: We'll spend if playoff spot looms

TAMPA -- This should be good news to general manager Rick Dudley.

CEO Tom Wilson said Friday if the Lightning is in the hunt for the playoffs in March -- in other words, playing meaningful games -- he would creak open the vault and let Dudley trade for a player to put the team over the hump.

And while he did not say price was no object, Wilson seemed willing to consider a high-priced player. Still, he did it with an eye toward the bottom line.

"It's an easier decision then because if it's a relatively expensive player and you're down to one-sixth or one-fifth of the season. The costs are not that great," Wilson said before the Lightning faced the Blackhawks at the Ice Palace.

"If the right thing comes around the trade deadline and we're still in the hunt, yeah. We've always talked about that."

Wilson said he always has been willing to make such a move but was waiting for circumstances to make it feasible.

"We always wanted to make sure we were in position to make a difference," he said.

Wilson said he is "real pleased" with the job being done by Dudley and coach John Tortorella.

Of the coach, he said, "It's nice to talk to somebody like him who has both feet on the ground. He's so logical and level-headed and passionate about what he does. It's all under control. Thirty minutes with him and you feel everything is okay. Everything is under control."

FORWARD THINKING: Because of injuries to forwards Brian Holzinger (torn rotator cuff), Sheldon Keefe (strained knee), Jimmie Olvestad (concussion) and Tim Taylor (groin), defenseman Cory Sarich was available to play at forward as he did Tuesday. But he did not, and the coach made it clear Sarich will not be converted to forward as was Ben Clymer.

"He is not a forward," Tortorella said. "He is a core defenseman for this team."

TAYLOR HURTING: Taylor, who missed four of the previous five games with a groin strain, did not play after testing his injury at the morning skate. Losing Taylor is a big blow. The center has won a team-high 54.4 percent of his faceoffs.

His absence allowed rookie forward Nikita Alexeev, recalled Thursday from AHL Springfield, to get into the game.

ODDS AND ENDS: Tonight's game against the Canadiens is at 7. Defenseman Nolan Pratt, out with a broken leg, and Keefe will sign autographs on the Ice Palace concourse during the first intermission. ... Left wing Fredrik Modin played his 200th Lightning game.

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