Tied, then denied

The Lightning sees 1-0 and 2-1 leads slip away and then pays the ultimate price in overtime as New Jersey's Jamie Langenbrunner puts Tampa Bay in a 2-0 hole. The Lightning fails many times to put it away before the Devils rally.

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EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - The good news for the Lightning is it has driven this road before.

After falling 3-2 to the Devils in overtime Saturday at Continental Airlines Arena, Tampa Bay is down two games to none in the East semifinals.

It faced the same steep hill in the quarterfinals against the Capitals before rallying to win four in a row. And this time, the Lightning has Games 3 and 4 at the St. Pete Times Forum instead of having to go on the road.

"The team knows it's not over," captain Dave Andreychuk said.

Maybe so, but consider this: New Jersey has gone ahead 2-0 in seven previous playoff series and lost none.

So it was not with bravado or posturing that Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur said of the Lightning's situation, "It's going to be difficult."

Man, this road is not only steep, it's bumpy. And the Lightning has no one to blame but itself.

"I think most of the guys played hard," coach John Tortorella said. "But I think we have some guys that feel one round is enough. If we don't have everyone playing, we're going nowhere."

Tampa Bay took a step up in some ways from Thursday's 3-0 loss. It hit more. It skated better, and there were times it controlled the puck in the Devils zone while winning battles along the boards.

But that is little consolation when you consider it failed on multiple chances to put Saturday's game away before Grant Marshall's goal off his skate with 9:34 left in regulation tied it.

And the Lightning offered a path of least resistance to Jamie Langenbrunner, who got the winner 2:09 into overtime after a mistake by Vinny Lecavalier.

Goalie Nikolai Khabibulin allowed a generous rebound on Langenbrunner's original shot and whiffed when he tried to bat it away with his stick. Worse, Lecavalier blew his coverage and let Langenbrunner around him to convert the rebound.

"It's a pretty good feeling," said Langenbrunner, whose seven goals and four winners are playoff highs. "Obviously, I get a little excited. It's a great time of year to be getting those goals."

The Lightning found a little of that magic twice Saturday. Chris Dingman's first career playoff goal gave it a 1-0 lead 12:25 into the game.

Brian Rafalski tied it with a five-on-three power-play goal with 34 seconds left in the second, but Martin St. Louis gave Tampa Bay a 2-1 lead 12 seconds later with a short-handed, breakaway goal.

But consider these missteps.

Center Tim Taylor's roughing penalty for creaming Brian Gionta in front of the net created the two-man disadvantage. Even if you believe the call by referee Kerry Fraser was weak (and Devils defenseman Ken Daneyko got away with a similar play on Brad Richards), Taylor erred by putting himself in that position with the team short-handed.

Tampa Bay was 0-for-4 on the power play, all in the second period, and executed so poorly, it rarely set up in the offensive zone.

Andreychuk had just one shot. Brad Richards had none. And Lecavalier was invisible on offense, had no shots and played his worst game of the playoffs.

Pulling more than his weight was Dingman, who had a game-high six shots.

St. Louis also showed spunk and had four shots. But his breakaway with 7:55 left in regulation and the Lightning ahead 2-1 was stopped by Brodeur.

"You get a breakaway. And it could be 3-1, and the game is probably close to being over," St. Louis said.

"I tried to outwait him," Brodeur said. "I wanted him to make the first move. When he went to his backhand, I just stacked the pads. When the same guy gets two breakaways, sometimes it gets in your head. I was calm and able to make the save."

The Lightning needs that kind of game-turning play if it is going to get back in the series.

"It's tough," St. Louis said. "I think we played good enough to win the game."

But they didn't, and, hey, watch out for that pothole.

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