PANTHERS 2, LIGHTNING 1: Roberto Luongo's 50 saves and Olli Jokinen's goals end a five-game win streak.
By TOM JONES
Published January 18, 2004
[AP photo]
Pavel Trnka puts Brad Richards into the boards during the second period.
SUNRISE - Forget John Grahame and Nikolai Khabibulin. Here's the dirt behind the Lightning's real goaltending controversy.
In 2000, the Lightning offered a first-round pick to the Islanders for a goalie and was given its choice between Kevin Weekes or a young kid named Roberto Luongo. Then-general manager Rick Dudley mulled it over and settled on Weekes.
Funny how it all worked out. Weekes is long gone. Luongo moved on to another team, and Dudley ended up being fired. And that brings us to Saturday. With Dudley behind the bench of the Panthers as GM/coach, he watched his goalie - Luongo! - turn the Lightning players into bobbleheads.
All they could do was shake their heads as Luongo made one brilliant save after another as the Lightning lost 2-1 before an announced sellout of 19,250 at the Office Depot Center.
To put it as plain as can be: There is no way the Lightning should have lost or even tied Saturday. It peppered Luongo with a franchise-record 51 shots yet scored one measly goal.
Florida's Olli Jokinen scored two third-period goals, including the winner that snapped a 1-1 tie with 5:13 left. Despite outshooting the Panthers 51-15, the Lightning's five-game win streak ended.
And it was that fact that had the Lightning more ornery than a grizzly with a toothache.
"The bottom line is we didn't win," Lightning captain Dave Andreychuk said. "That's all that matters. Who cares how we played or what the shot clock said? We should've had more shots."
More? Luongo's 50 saves are the most in the NHL this season.
"Doesn't matter," Lightning forward Brad Richards said. "Their goalie played well, but we have to somehow, some way find a way to beat him. And we didn't."
One would think coach John Tortorella was somewhat pleased with unleashing 36 more shots than the opponent and seemingly playing better than Thursday's 5-4 victory against Carolina. But far from it. Tortorella sifted through the remnants of this game and found little that was salvageable.
"Yes, we did some good things. But we have key players making key mistakes at the wrong times," he said. "We have to learn how to win games like this no matter how their goalie plays. Luongo was good, but we still need all 20 guys playing. And we don't get that all the time."
Two defensive breakdowns left Grahame without much of a chance to stop Jokinen's goals. Those goals sandwiched Martin St. Louis' 19th goal that came 49 seconds after Jokinen gave Florida a 1-0 lead 5:48 into the third.
"Two mistakes, and both ended up in our net," Richards said. "That can't happen."
Both breakdowns would have been long forgotten if not for Luongo, whose first comment after the game was he should have stopped St. Louis' goal.
"If he's not an All-Star, it's criminal," Florida defenseman Andreas Lilja said. "Fifty-one shots? The rest of the goalies in this league don't see 51 shots in two games."
The 51 shots weren't dump-ins or prayers from bad angles. Luongo was tested all game, but his best save came during the second period. With a loose puck and a wild scramble in front of the net, Andreychuk and Tim Taylor swept at a puck from just outside the crease.
Andreychuk was so sure the Lightning scored, he briefly raised his arms to celebrate. But the red light never went on. Luongo lunged just far enough to snag Andreychuk's shot with his glove.
That was one of 20 saves Luongo made during the second period, and when the second period ended, the Lightning held a 34-9 advantage in shots.
"Let's face facts," Dudley said. "If he doesn't play like he does for 40 minutes, we're nowhere near that game. We know it. Everybody knows it."
And let's face facts. The Lightning didn't like it.
