Lightning: Hit the road ... jacked

[Times photo: Dirk Shadd]
Brad Richards, left, celebrates his goal with Vinny Lecavalier. Lecavalier picked up an assist on the goal, which made it 1-0.

TAMPA -- Lightning players have become, for the most part, small picture kind of guys.

Taking their cue (or is that a demand?) from coach John Tortorella, they rarely look beyond the next game. But there was no denying the big picture that presented itself Thursday after Tampa Bay's 3-1 victory against the Panthers at the St. Pete Times Forum.

The win, not to mention five victories and a tie in seven games, was the perfect way to roll into what should be a difficult three-game road trip against the Senators, Islanders and Red Wings.

"(Thursday's) game was a real important send-off," right wing Ben Clymer said. "At this point in the season, you want to be playing well and carrying the momentum."

That momentum has carried Tampa Bay into sixth in the East and one point behind the first-place Capitals in the Southeast with a game in hand.

And there is this: With 18 games left, the Lightning matched last season's totals of 27 victories and 69 points.

"We're playing with confidence," Tortorella said. "They feel good about themselves, and they should. They have played some very good hockey."

Vinny Lecavalier's 23rd goal broke a 1-1 tie with 4:22 left in the second period, and Nikolai Khabibulin made 35 saves to extend his unbeaten streak to five (4-0-1) with a 1.18 goals-against average and .955 save percentage during that span.

Brad Richards opened the scoring in the first on a power play. Vinny Prospal's empty-netter ended it with 48.2 seconds left. Tampa Bay outshot Florida 39-36, buzzed on offense and kept its defensive discipline. There were a couple of bad giveaways, but as Lecavalier said, "That's why we have Habby there."

Florida's Roberto Luongo did his part. The goalie made 36 saves and was on the ice for a good minute during the first after taking Andre Roy's sizzling slap shot off his mask.

The game was not without controversy.

Florida coach Mike Keenan was all over referees Paul Devorski and Rob Martell because of the five-on-three the Panthers faced during the first that led to Richards' five-on-four goal.

[Times photo: Dirk Shadd]
Lightning defenseman Dan Boyle tries to clear the puck out of the zone. With the victory, the Lightning moved to within one point of the first-place Capitals in the Southeast.

"In the old NHL, there's no way either of those penalties would have been called," Keenan said of Marcus Nilson's high stick at 12:29 and Andreas Lilja's slash at 13:03. "Nilson didn't high-stick him. He pushed him. And Lilja broke his stick on the guy's shin pads. In the old NHL, that doesn't get called, especially to put a team down five-on-three in a game like this."

The crowd of 14,192 booed long and loud 1:02 into the second after Devorski blew his whistle as Dan Boyle poked the puck into the net. That came after a tantalizing sequence in which Luongo got a stick on Martin St. Louis' backhander and watched it slide the length of the goal line before he covered it.

Replays showed the calls were correct, and the score stayed 1-0.

There was no controversy on Lecavalier's goal. The center, who has two goals and eight assists in his past eight games, found open space in front of the net and benefited from a heads-up play by Clymer, who poked the puck past Luongo as he tried to cover after stopping Prospal's backhander.

"It seems like we've been really focused lately," Clymer said. "We've been really working well as a group."

A group that has a major test in the next eight days, not only with three road games, but in a home game against Colorado. "That's good pressure to have," Clymer said.

Even if it comes in a big picture.