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© St. Petersburg Times, published September 17, 2002
BRANDON -- Coach John Tortorella keeps saying not to read too much into the team's scrimmages. But try telling that to center Vinny Lecavalier and wings Ruslan Fedotenko and Shane Willis.
"We take it very seriously," Willis said. "The quicker we can get together, the better it will be for all of us."
It is no surprise the three are playing on the same team. Tampa Bay wants to see if the trio can meld into a second offensive line, something the Lightning did not have last season.
The first indications came during Monday's scrimmages at the Ice Sports Forum. Each skated well, read each other well and made passes that created scoring opportunities.
Quite a difference from the first two scrimmages in which they had trouble simply completing passes.
"We really started feeling our groove," Willis said. "We got some passes going and read where each other would be on the ice. We have to keep progressing like that."
"It was by far our best day," Lecavalier said. "We did everything but score."
Blame goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin, who made 27 saves in the Black's 2-0 victory over the Red.
What changed for the line? Lecavalier said players are gaining their legs after four days of grueling workouts, and more energetic skating gave the line room to maneuver and created better passing lanes.
"We're taking this very seriously," Lecavalier said. "These aren't season games, but we have to learn to play together."
Tortorella would not pass judgment. "The more you play, the chemistry will grow or it won't," he said. "It's something we'll see as the camp goes through."
AMAZING: Khabibulin left heads shaking with his dazzling save on Fedotenko, who appeared to have an open net from point-blank range.
"I couldn't believe it," Fedotenko said of the stop.
Fedotenko passed to Lecavalier, who passed back cross-slot to Fedotenko. Khabibulin lunged with his outstretched stick to make the save, drawing exclamations from players.
"It was just one of those lucky ones," Khabibulin said.
Fedotenko said he was surprised by Lecavalier's return pass and did not get off the crispest shot. But that did not diminish the quality of the save.
"It will be nice to have that goalie in a regular game," Fedotenko said.
"He was sick today," Willis said. "He was his regular Khabibulin self."
NUMBERS GAME: Some interesting achievements have come out of the three scrimmages each of the four teams have played.
Left wing Andre Roy, who had nine assists in 65 games last season, has six. Left wing Gordie Dwyer, with no goals in 78 NHL games, has three.
"And there was a fourth that was questionable," Dwyer said.
"It's all good for your confidence," Roy said. "These aren't games where we're looking for stats, but it's fun to contribute."
CHANGES: Tortorella said there will be "trades" between the teams before today's scrimmages: "I'm general manager for a day."
Tortorella said he wants to see as many combinations of players before the Lightning's first preseason game Friday at Atlanta. "We're getting some decent reads on some combinations," he said. "If we see something we like, we'll go back to it. Now we'd like to look at some other things."
CHARITY EVENT: Glitz & Sticks will be Oct. 16 at the St. Pete Times Forum. The event features dinner, casino games with Lightning players manning the tables and a silent auction. Proceeds benefit Tampa General Hospital Foundation and the Lightning Foundation. For information, call (813) 301-6591 or go to tampabaylightning.com.