LIGHTNING 6, FLYERS 1: Players and coaches speak of a system working well enough to beat an East power.
By DAMIAN CRISTODERO
Published January 4, 2004
TAMPA - It would have been easy for the Lightning to get caught up in the emotion of Saturday night's 6-1 victory over the Flyers. And no one would have blamed left wing Fredrik Modin for celebrating his hat trick that snapped a 13-game scoring drought.
But Tampa Bay took the cerebral route even as the cheers of 19,242 at the St. Pete Times Forum punctuated a victory over a team tied for the most points in the East.
Rather than talk of six goals, coach John Tortorella spoke of how the players stuck with the team's puck-pursuit system even when the results were not forthcoming.
Rather than speak about ending a 20-game stretch that produced a 4-12-4 record and just 32 goals, players spoke of validating the process.
"No matter if it is good or bad, stay steady, and tonight reinforces that this is how we're going to do it," Tortorella said. "This is the way this team can be successful."
"It gets your confidence up," Modin said. "We know what we're doing is the right thing to do."
Modin's second hat trick included a first-period goal that tied it at 1 and the first two goals of the second, including one on the power play.
That was part of a three-goal outburst on four shots in a 5-minute, 2-second stretch of the period that gave Tampa Bay a 4-1 lead at 6:17 and included Vinny Lecavaier's team-high 13th goal.
Ben Clymer and Ruslan Fedotenko set a team record with goals 11 seconds apart in the third to finish the scoring with 6:25 left. Brad Richards had three assists. Stillman, who played his 600th NHL game, had two as did Martin St. Louis.
Fedotenko had his first assist since opening night for his 100th career point. Defenseman Dan Boyle tied a franchise record at plus-5, and goalie Nikolai Khabibulin had 18 saves to break an 0-3-2 skid.
"They were ready and we were not," Flyers center Jeremy Roenick said. "We were not good in the battle areas and Tampa Bay came with a lot of force. They played great and we played really bad."
Starting goalie Robert Esche allowed three goals on 12 shots before being replaced at 4:41 of the second after Modin's third goal. Replacement Jeff Hackett allowed Lecavalier's goal on the first shot he faced.
The timing could not have been better for Tampa Bay, which finished a 2-2-1 homestand and begins a five-game road trip Tuesday at Ottawa.
The rout also erased the memory of Friday's loss to the Blue Jackets and cut the Thrashers' lead in the Southeast to four points.
Really, though, the Lightning had played better of late. The forecheck and neutral-zone play had improved and the defense was standing up better at the blue line.
Still, the team had just two goals on 110 shots in its previous three games. But Saturday the Lightning finished and earned its second consecutive victory over the Flyers.
"Who can figure the game out?" Tortorella said. "We can't score goals and we score 11 in two games versus Philly. But you can't get caught up in it. You have to stay within your system and believe in what you're doing.
"You can't worry about people who pick at what's going on with this team. You just stay within yourself, you keep the doors closed in that locker room and you stay with the program."
