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WINGS 4, LIGHTNING 3 (OT): A record crowd sees Tampa Bay take a 3-2 lead, then falter.
By JOANNE KORTH, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published February 27, 2002
TAMPA -- The instant Tampa Bay goaltender Kevin Weekes felt the puck glance off his leg and into the net, in that same split second, he felt like skating.
Out the arena doors.
All the way home.
Right into his bed -- in Toronto.
Honestly, no one could blame the Lightning for wanting to crawl under the covers after Tuesday night's heartbreaking 4-3 overtime loss to powerhouse Detroit, decided when Brendan Shanahan's sharp-angle shot ricocheted off Weekes with 2:05 left.
"We played so hard; we played so well," Weekes said. "We matched up equally with the best team in the game right now, to a man, head-on. Those are guys we grew up emulating. It's just so tough when you have to lose like that."
Detroit got a pair of goals from Shanahan and one each from Sergei Fedorov and Luc Robitaille. Vinny Prospal, Dave Andreychuk and Jimmie Olvestad scored for Tampa Bay.
A record crowd of 20,914, the biggest to see a hockey game at the Ice Palace, was almost equally divided between Lightning and Red Wings fans. All were treated to one of the most exciting games ever played in the building.
This one had it all: a combined 73 shots, breathless scoring chances, heart-stopping saves, a penalty shot, a slew of power plays, pinpoint passes, lucky bounces and bad hops.
This should not have been a fair fight: The injury-riddled Lightning versus the all-star-laden Red Wings. But Tampa Bay, playing without offensive stars Martin St. Louis (broken leg), Fredrik Modin (wrist) and Vinny Lecavalier (ankle), continued its habit of playing well against the Red Wings, who boast 11 Olympians, five all-stars and nine potential Hall of Famers.
In overtime, two of those stars made the difference.
Detroit goaltender Dominik Hasek made a daring play, charging out of the crease nearly to the blue line to thwart Prospal's potential breakaway by hook-sliding over the puck 1:20 into overtime. A few seconds later, Hasek stonewalled a blast by Pavel Kubina.
"He's not only the Dominator, he's the innovator," Weekes said.
At the other end, a spectacular 34-save effort by Weekes was upstaged by Shanahan, who somehow managed to get his broken right thumb around his stick to fire at Weekes. Weekes was on the far post when the puck caromed around the right boards to Shanahan.
"I froze for a second to see what he was going to do and he waited me out," Weekes said. "I tried to come over and as soon as I did he just banged it off me. You're basically in the line of fire. It's going to hit you; you just hope it hits you and bounces out."
Shanahan, whose power-play goal tied it at 2 in the second period, said he aimed for Weekes. "He was stumbling to his feet and I tried to bank it off him," Shanahan said.
Tampa Bay rallied from a 1-0 deficit to take the lead and then lose it again during an action-packed second period. Prospal scored on a rebound 31 seconds in, defenseman Dan Boyle lost control of the puck on his first career penalty shot, and Andreychuk scored his 421st career power-play goal, pulling to within eight of record-holder Phil Esposito.
Tampa Bay took a 3-2 lead 9:44 into the third when rookie Olvestad beat Hasek with a high backhander. But the lead was short-lived. Robitaille beat Weekes with a wrist shot to the short side that tied it at 3 at 11:35.
When Shanahan's goal ended it, the Lightning wandered about the ice in disbelief.
"We're not going to use our injuries as an excuse, but look at our lineup and look at their lineup," Lightning coach John Tortorella said. "I couldn't be happier with most of our guys. But it's a kick in the teeth when you don't win the game."