Lightning finds way to the top

LIGHTNING 4, SABRES 2: Vinny Prospal scores two goals and adds an assist as Tampa Bay moves into first place in the Southeast.

By DAMIAN CRISTODERO, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published March 15, 2003

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- As the seconds counted down in the Capitals game against the Kings on Friday night, every Lightning player who passed the television in the locker room stopped to watch.

Deer caught in the headlights could not have stood as still.

Tampa Bay had beaten the Sabres 4-2 at HSBC Arena, and Washington's loss nudged the Lightning into first place in the Southeast, one point ahead of the Capitals with a game in hand.

"Nice," defenseman Cory Sarich said. "That's the word: nice."

Really, though, it was so much more.

The victory moved Tampa Bay, by virtue of its division lead, into third place in the East. Its 80 points are five ahead of where the 1996 playoff team was after 71 games, and its 11th road victory, and third in four games, tied last season's total.

A couple of ghosts also were vanquished. The Lightning snapped an 0-6-3 skid against the Sabres dating to February 2001, and an 0-6-1 streak at Buffalo that went back to March 1999.

Oh, and don't forget the Sabres, statistically one of the worst teams in the league, had a 1-0-2 edge on Tampa Bay this season and twice prevented it from reaching first place.

"Yea for the two points and whipping their butts. I can't stand playing those guys," said Sarich, whom the Lightning acquired from the Sabres in March 2000. "To play against your former team and have the same rotten luck, it's nice to finally end that unspoken stat of not being able to beat them."

"When you're in the hunt, these are the games you need to find a way to win," coach John Tortorella said. "Is it a step? I guess we're beginning to learn how to win on the road. We need to continue to do that if we're going to be successful."

Success came in many forms for the Lightning, 10-2-3 in its past 15 games.

Vinny Prospal had two goals, including his 20th, and an assist; his 71 points making him the second Tampa Bay player after Brian Bradley to reach 70.

Brad Richards had a goal and an assist and scored the winner that gave the Lightning a 3-1 lead 12:26 into the second period. John Grahame had 26 saves to break a two-start losing streak.

Dave Andreychuk scored his 611th to move past Bobby Hull into 11th all-time. It was Andreychuk's 18th, and 13th on the power play to push his NHL record to 258.

Not that there weren't complications.

Ahead 2-0 in the first period, Grahame roamed out of the crease and coughed up the puck to Daniel Briere, who scored into an open net at 13:37.

The Lightning failed on two power-play chances in the third while leading 3-2, and the Sabres had a man advantage with 2:49 remaining when Fredrik Modin was called for a high stick.

It was six-on-four for 16 seconds after the Sabres pulled goalie Mika Noronen with 1:05 left. But Tampa Bay's penalty kill, successful on 38 of its past 41 chances (92.7 percent), prevailed.

Martin St. Louis had a key block, as did Sarich, who flipped the puck out with 19 seconds left. Prospal's empty-netter with 14.4 seconds left was the capper.

"That's Cory Sarich," Tortorella said. "He plays hard and does the little things."

Like skating beyond the Sabres goal line to knock Buffalo defenseman Rory Fitzpatrick off the puck and pass to St. Louis, who passed to Richards for his 16th goal.

A blown call helped the Lightning score first. The offsides was so obvious Vinny Lecavalier gave up on the play and nonchalantly dropped the puck to Prospal, who beat Noronen with a backhander.

"They made a big mistake," Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. "If you watch Lecavalier's reaction, he quit on the play. Even after the goal, he looks at the linesman and says, 'What happened?' "

What happened is the Lightning took its first step of the night toward first place. The Capitals' loss was the last.