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Thoughts and observations from Sunday's Lightning broadcast:
By SHARON GINN
© St. Petersburg Times, published April 21, 2003
Thoughts and observations from Sunday's Lightning broadcast:
-- If Martin St. Louis' winning goal wasn't enough to rouse viewers from their overtime-induced stupor, Rick Peckham's call certainly was. What he said wasn't important; what was impressive was that after 41/2 hours on the air he still had the energy to give his words the warranted extra weight. Peckham and analyst Bobby "Chief" Taylor did an admirable job sustaining their pace and keeping viewers informed.
-- Taylor was again excellent on the telestrator, the best example being Dave Andreychuk's goal. Taylor marked where the puck bounced off Ken Klee's skate to Andreychuk, which many might have missed.
-- Sunshine had excellent replays that demonstrated how easily many plays could have gone either way. The best angle came from behind the Lightning's goal, giving us a coming-at-ya view of some of Nikolai Khabibulin's most impressive saves.
-- Peckham and Taylor were at their most entertaining while ranting about the officiating (several replays backed up their statements.) Said Taylor: "The Lightning took a lot of penalties in the first period, and they're not (calling) it both ways." Peckham: "The Caps are able to get away with whatever they want, apparently."
-- Guess you can't call 'em all. Taylor noted well into overtime that the way both goalies were playing, the winner would be "Something fluky ... not one of those top-five play-of-the-day type goals." Anyone who saw St. Louis' goal is sure to disagree.