Pratt hopes for good health

BRANDON -- Defenseman Nolan Pratt was making strides last season, impressing coaches and moving up the depth chart, when his progress was stymied by two bad breaks.

Literally.

Pratt missed 36 games last season because of injury, twice breaking bones while blocking shots. After a lost season, the stay-at-home defenseman must stay healthy to prove his worth.

"I feel like I was unlucky last year," said Pratt, a 6-foot-2, 204-pound native of Alberta. "What can you do? Hopefully, I will play well and it will work out for me. It's a big year."

Pratt, acquired in a trade with Colorado in June 2001, showed potential as a top-six defenseman for Tampa Bay, but broke his right foot in training camp and missed the first 11 games. He returned for 27, but broke his right leg and missed 25.

Coach John Tortorella again likes what he sees of Pratt in training camp, and looks forward to the in-your-face defenseman being a presence in front of the Lightning goal.

"I'm really anxious to see how he comes along in preseason with two pretty major injuries last year," Tortorella said. "But he seems to be skating well and he'll certainly help our top six. The thing I like about him, he brings a little bit of jam in front of our net. That's something we need."

As important as it is for Pratt to stay healthy, there is nothing he can do to ensure it. What he can't afford, he said, is to worry about being hurt.

"If you start skating around thinking about it too much, you're not quite focused on what's going on on the ice," Pratt said. "That's when you do get hurt, when you're not mentally prepared to play. It's something I've got to put out of my mind.

"I feel like I'm ready to go again. I think I'm in just as good a shape as the beginning of the season last year. I just want to wipe the slate clean and go."

MORE RULES: A little-publicized aspect of the stricter rules governing faceoffs popped up during Friday's game against the Thrashers. When center Tim Taylor and then-left wing Chris Dingman were tossed from the same faceoff, the Lightning was assessed a two-minute penalty for delay of game.

Taylor was tossed because Dingman's skate was inside the faceoff circle.

"It's not a new rule," Tortorella said. "They're just reemphasizing it."

Apparently the officials working Saturday's game against Columbus did not get the message as some players had skates inside the circle during faceoffs.

The new fast line-change rule has had an immediate impact. Both games, which began at 7:37 p.m., ended before 10.

PROSPAL PROSPERING: For Vinny Prospal, the season after he scored 22 goals for the Senators was miserable. The center scored four for Ottawa, was traded to the Panthers and scored one more.

How, then, to avoid the trap after last season's 18-goal, 55-point effort for the Lightning earned him a one-year, $1.55-million contract?

"I don't think about it," he said.

Prospal said he did too much thinking after his breakout year with the Senators.

"You can put too much pressure on yourself, and if you don't start well, the pressure builds," he said. "So I don't have any expectations. I just want to play."

JUST MISSED: Vinny Lecavalier had a prime chance to score in Saturday's 2-1 loss to the Blue Jackets, but his third-period one-timer off a Martin St. Louis pass skimmed the outside of the post.

Lecavalier said he was mad he couldn't hit the sliver of net left open by goalie Pascal Leclaire, but he said his summer spent working on the shot paid off.

"It was the first time in two years (the puck) didn't go through my legs," he said. "I'm not happy I didn't score, but I hit it solid."

SOFT LANDINGS: Did you notice the crunching sound at the St. Pete Times Forum when bodies crashed into the glass around the rink?

Thank the new glass panels that are held together by clear moldings. The panels rattle when hit, and their give makes them much safer, and a lot more fun, than the rock-hard seamless glass the arena had since it was built.

"They felt real good, a lot more give in them," right wing Shane Willis said.

As for the rattle, Willis approved: "It makes it sound like you hit the guy harder than you did."

ONE-TIMERS: After eight consecutive days of training camp workouts plus back-to-back preseason games, the Lightning had Sunday off. Workouts resume today at the Ice Sports Forum. ... Tampa Bay plays Carolina on Tuesday in Estero.