Roy re-establishes himself as enforcer

TAMPA -- It took less than 10 minutes for Andre Roy to get it out of his system -- with coach John Tortorella's blessing.

Wednesday, the Lightning's enforcer faced the Rangers for the first time since a brawl with New York's Sandy McCarthy last season resulted in Roy's 13-game suspension.

With 9:51 gone in the first period they went at it again. McCarthy got a five-minute fighting penalty. Roy got five for fighting, two for hooking, two for instigating the fight and a 10-minute misconduct penalty.

"I thought I'd get the team going early by getting into a fight and at the same time get it over with so we didn't have to yap at each other and play dirty the whole game," said Roy, who put a quick end to the fight by body-slamming McCarthy.

"You've got to fight; there's nothing the matter with that," Tortorella said. "We're not crazy about him taking four minutes (for hooking and instigating), but for Andre to get back in there after all the things that went on, we'll kill that penalty."

FEASTER, PRATT'S AGENT TALK: Carlos Sosa, agent for defenseman Nolan Pratt, spoke with general manager Jay Feaster about Pratt, a healthy scratch for all 10 games this season.

Sosa said he did not ask Feaster for a trade, but he said, "Nolan is an established player in the league. At some point, sooner rather than later, he has to get into the lineup. ... This team would not be happy if Nolan wasn't happy about not playing. Nolan is a competitor. He knows he will get an opportunity, and when he does he will seize it."

Tortorella has said that with the team doing well he is reluctant to break up the defensive combinations.

"We've all been impressed that he's been a good team guy," Feaster said. "We all know that Pratter is going to get his chance, and we believe when he gets his opportunity he will make it hard for John to get him out of the lineup."

NO QUIT: For Pierre McGuire, the sign the Lightning may have turned a corner is its resiliency.

"They don't quit," the former Hartford Whalers coach said. "They used to quit a lot. That says a lot about the players, but it also says a lot about the quality of coaching."

McGuire and Tortorella go way back. They faced each other when Tortorella was a Sabres assistant in 1989-95. McGuire, an analyst for TSN, Canada's equivalent of ESPN, lauded Tortorella's firm hand.

"One of the messages was the way he dealt with (Vinny) Lecavalier," he said of Tortorella's demand that the center play a complete game. "He took a firm stand, and it showed everyone they're going to be held to a high standard."