Start has Lightning pleased, guarded

Undefeated Tampa Bay keeps its record start in perspective.

By DAMIAN CRISTODERO, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published October 25, 2002

TAMPA -- There is no better way to say this, so we're just going to give it to you straight.

The Lightning, at 4-0-2, is the NHL's only undefeated team, and entering Thursday's games, its 10 points made it the No. 1 team in the league.

Tampa Bay was tied with the Red Wings -- the Red Wings -- for most goals with 26, and its 10 power-play goals were one behind the league-leading Maple Leafs.

Yeah, yeah, it's been only six games, and coach John Tortorella refuses to crack a smile when discussing his team's success because he, understandably, wants to keep things on an even keel.

But for a team that has missed the playoffs in nine of 10 seasons, scored just 178 goals last season, and from 1998-2001 lost 50 games (including overtime losses) for a league-record four consecutive seasons, this is like finding gold at the end of a rainbow.

"As little as you can be in the moment in this league, it's been fun," right wing Ben Clymer said. "To know you have momentum and confidence, it's a good feeling. It makes coming to the rink a fun time."

Even the national media is catching on.

After Monday's 4-2 victory over the Rangers, the Associated Press and Bloomberg News wrote stories. USA Today has run a short item on center Vinny Lecavalier, and even NHL 2Nite on ESPN2 got into the act Wednesday, when analysts Darren Pang and Barry Melrose debated whether the Lightning (Pang's choice) or the Wild, the surprise team in the West, could make the playoffs.

"This is not only great for hockey, but great for the franchise of Tampa Bay because there's a belief that maybe they turned the corner," Pang said Thursday by phone.

The confluence of three factors has pushed Tampa Bay to its best start: the team's system, which encourages the defense to join the rush and pinch into the offensive zone, team speed and the NHL's new anti-obstruction rules that allow the Lightning to use that speed to its advantage.

Forwards are free to charge into the offensive zone to forecheck which, when done with energy and a physical edge, can cause turnovers and create scoring chances.

Players can move more freely through the neutral zone and into the offensive zone. When they are obstructed, penalties are being called, which open the offensive lanes even more.

"It's huge," Lecavalier said. "I'm sure there will be a lot more goals from our team because we're a fast team."

The Lightning is an especially fast finisher. In five of six games, it has come from behind. It has erased two-goal deficits three times.

Still, not everything is working. The team needs to stop playing from behind. The penalty kill was 23rd in the league at 80.5 percent, and goalie Nikolai Khabibulin has been inconsistent. His .895 save percentage and a 2.57 goals-against average are well off last season's marks of .920 and 2.37.

Khabibulin was outstanding in Wednesday's tie at 2 with Columbus. And as Pang pointed out, even if Khabibulin is a bit off his game, his presence is such that he forces shooters to hesitate and maybe change their shots, thus lowering the chances of scoring.

"Wait until he gets hot," Pang said.

Many are waiting for the team to sink or swim.

Mike Brophy, senior writer at the Hockey News, said he is impressed with Tampa Bay's start, "but like someone in our office said, if they can play this way through 20 games, people will really take notice. If they can continue this for the first quarter of the season, they will be a team to be reckoned with."

In fact, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, 32 of the 36 teams that have gone undefeated in their first six games during the expansion era, beginning in 1967, have made the playoffs. Nine have won the Stanley Cup.

You can almost see Tortorella shaking his head.

"It scares me in our building, in our little area, it's worrisome to me that you win a few games, you get 10 feet tall, you lose a few games and you push the panic button," he said. "That's very important for our players to understand because I think we're still fighting that."

So far the fight has been a good one.

"If they continue the way they're going," Pang said, "we all are going to take notice."

-- Times staff writer Bruce Lowitt contributed to this report.