Lightning players and management feel the pressure as they possibly spiral out of playoff contention.
By DAMIAN CRISTODERO
Published January 8, 2004
MONTREAL - It was difficult to tell exactly what changed in the Lightning locker room after Tuesday's loss to the Senators.
It was uneasy. It was uncomfortable.
For the second time in 17 days, Tampa Bay could not follow an energizing victory over the Flyers with another win. And players spoke about an intensity that for too long had run hot and cold.
But that was just a prologue to Wednesday, when players said for the first time they are worried about the playoff race getting away from them, and general manager Jay Feaster said out loud that personnel moves could be coming.
"I am not going to sit here and watch things spiral down," he said. "It's time to recognize the urgency of the situation."
Tampa Bay's situation is serious but not yet critical. The team is 5-13-4 in its past 22 games, and if the playoffs started today, it would be out.
Still, the Lightning is just four points behind the Thrashers in the Southeast with three games in hand, and three points behind the Islanders for the East's final playoff spot with two games in hand.
And while coach John Tortorella said, "It isn't about panic. ... It's realizing where we are," players said they are concerned.
"I just feel like we're playing knowing there is a tomorrow," right wing Martin St. Louis said. "If we don't have that desperation attitude that there is no tomorrow, we're going to be in trouble."
"We've got to get out of this now," defenseman Jassen Cullimore said. "If we play the next half of this season the way we played the first half, we're not going to be in. We have to do better."
The Lightning did better Dec. 18 with a 5-4 overtime victory over the Flyers, but two days later fell meekly to the Stars. Then came Saturday's 6-1 rout of Philadelphia. But a loose defensive game against the Senators resulted in a 5-2 defeat.
Ottawa, unbeaten in 10, is a beast.
"But you can't look at it like, "Well, it was a tough team, and we played okay at times,' " Tortorella said. "We need to get the results, and we need everybody to play with the type of urgency some players are talking about. We will not survive if we don't have that type of urgency from everyone."
Tortorella took some blame. He said he waited too long to apply pressure to his players after things began fraying because he expected them to work themselves out of their funk.
St. Louis said the worst thing to happen to the Lightning might have been its 11-2-2-1 start.
"Maybe we thought it would be a walk in the park," he said.
Center Brad Richards said there might have been the thought that "We would make it no matter what. Now we're starting to realize we're not in the playoffs, and we'd better get into the playoffs."
The immediate road is uphill. After tonight's game against the red-hot Canadiens at the Bell Centre, Tampa Bay's five-game road trip continues at New Jersey and the Rangers before a win-or-else game at Pittsburgh.
"Everybody should want to do something about this," Richards said. "It's as simple as that. In the next game, everybody should have something to say to get a win."
Richards was speaking figuratively but Dave Andreychuk was not. The captain said he spoke up Tuesday between the second and third periods.
"It's been beaten into us a couple of times about where we have to be," he said. "Now's the time. You can't wait until February or we're going to be on the outside looking in. You can't go through this month and not get any points."
For some, time may be even shorter.
"There should be desperation," Feaster said. "There should be urgency. There should be a sense that every game for us is a playoff game right now. If there is not, then we're kidding ourselves. We're being a little delusional. It's a desperate time."
