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Wounded club makes pieces fit

LIGHTNING 4, SHARKS 2: Injury-riddled Tampa Bay goes on attack to snap San Jose's win streak at 7.

By JOANNE KORTH, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published March 2, 2002

TAMPA -- After all these months struggling to find offense, the Lightning seems finally to have found its comfort zone.

Utter desperation.

Playing with a makeshift lineup that included a veteran defenseman at left wing, the injury-riddled Lightning upended high-flying San Jose 4-2 before an announced 15,013 Friday at the Ice Palace.

Go figure.

Tampa Bay snapped the Sharks' seven-game win streak with a three-goal second period in which Pavel Kubina scored twice and Brad Richards had a goal and an assist. The outburst included two milestones: Kubina's first career multigoal game; and Richards' 100th career point.

Nikolai Khabibulin made 25 saves.

"We're digging down a lot deeper right now," said Richards, who added an empty-netter with 27 seconds left. "We're not as nervous and we're not holding the stick as tight.

"It's been a fun week so far."

Friday's aggressive effort came three nights after a 4-3 overtime loss to Detroit in which the Lightning gave the league's most talented team all it could handle.

That's eight goals in two games for the lowest-scoring team in the league, with much of its firepower dressed out in button-down shirts and neckties, not jerseys and skates.

Five injured forwards watched from the top row of the press box: Martin St. Louis (broken leg), Fredrik Modin (torn wrist cartilage), Vinny Lecavalier (chipped ankle bone), Brian Holzinger (shoulder) and Gordie Dwyer (shoulder).

With just 11 available forwards -- including three minor-league callups and veteran Tim Taylor, who can barely skate because of a severe groin pull -- defenseman Grant Ledyard was asked to fill in at left wing to make four complete lines.

Remarkably, Tampa Bay outshot San Jose 30-27, 24-16 over the final two periods.

"Whenever we've been kicked or down-and-out, this team has really responded well," said Taylor, who skated 16 shifts for 16:28 of ice time. "Any time people wonder where this team is heading, we respond."

Worried that it could not keep up with San Jose's talented skaters, Tampa Bay coerced the Sharks into an ugly first period. San Jose got a cheap goal with one minute left when Matt Bradley got away with hooking Dave Andreychuk in front of the Lightning net and kicked the puck into the slot to set up Todd Harvey.

Andreychuk complained to officials and got an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. San Jose assaulted the Lightning with power play shots but could not convert.

In the second, as has become Tampa Bay's habit, it went on the attack, scoring three within eight minutes. Richards intercepted a pass and easily put in his rebound at the 2:22 mark. Less than 90 seconds later, Kubina netted a power-play goal on a terrific pass through the crease by Vinny Prospal, the first of his two assists.

"We made a couple of mistakes and it cost us some goals," San Jose coach Darryl Sutter said. "They're a team that doesn't give up. And they don't give up much."

For the clincher, Kubina skated into the slot and flipped a lazy backhand low toward the net. Juha Ylonen screened goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff, and the Lightning led 3-1 at 10:28.

Rather than turn conservative, Tampa bay stayed on the attack in the third. Though it failed to convert several good scoring chances, it kept the pressure on and the puck in San Jose's zone.

Scott Thornton scored a meaningless goal on a wraparound play with six seconds left for the final margin.

Afterward, the stereo in the Lightning locker room blared.

"Who's to figure the game out?" coach John Tortorella said, shaking his head.

"You're not supposed to win, and sometimes it's easier to play as an underdog. The players say, 'Look what we have here; let's go out and try to have fun.' It releases them and takes the pressure off."

TONIGHT: LIGHTNING VS. PANTHERS

WHEN/WHERE: 7:30; Ice Palace, Tampa.

TV/RADIO: Sunshine; WDAE-AM 620.

THE LOWDOWN: This is the fourth of five meetings in this intense rivalry, which Florida leads 2-1 this season. The visiting team has won all three. The Lightning trails 10-24-7-2 all time. The Panthers are led by RW Pavel Bure (21 goals, 23 assists) and D Sandis Ozolinsh (9 goals, 28 assists). Expect Lightning power plays. Going into Friday's games, Florida was the most penalized team in the league at nearly 26 minutes per game and had the two most-penalized players: defensemen Peter Worrell (249 minutes) and Brad Ference (198 minutes). Tampa Bay was the third-least penalized team (11.9 minutes), with no player above 64 minutes. Tampa Bay goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin played Friday against San Jose, but he showed playing for Russia in the Olympics that he could be effective on consecutive days.

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