LIGHTNING 5, PANTHERS 3: A potential letdown becomes point No. 90, an NHL high.
By BRANT JAMES
Published March 7, 2004
[AP photo]
Andre Roy and Darcy Hordichuk fight during the second period. Roy picked up an assist on Chris Dingman's first goal since Oct. 26, 2002.
SUNRISE - Don't question it. Just go with it. Things are pretty good right now for the Lightning.
So good, a potential trap game, wedged between a win over the Stanley Cup champion Devils and a meeting at the Red Wings on Monday was no trap at all. So good, Chris Dingman, a fourth-line grinder without a goal in 106 games, became an offensive threat.
So good that with a 5-3 win over the Panthers on Saturday, the Lightning tied Toronto for the longest win streak in the NHL this season (eight), set a club record with a fifth straight road win and earned a point in a club-record 15th straight game and 23rd of 24.
And a Southeast Division race that has been a foregone conclusion since the Lightning embarked on its current 24-3-1-4 run, moved closer to finality as the magic number to clinch shrank to two points (a Lightning win or Panthers loss).
Oh, and the Lightning is atop the NHL with 90 points. Tampa Bay leads Detroit by a point and Philadelphia by two. It has two games in hand on the Flyers but has played one more game than the Red Wings. "It's not just happening because of our past record," said Martin St. Louis, who had two assists, increasing his league-leading points total to 80. "Every night, we have to show up. (Friday) night, we did not play well.
"But the thing is to not play two poor games in a row, and I thought we responded."
A night after being dominated for two periods but scrambling for a 3-2 overtime win against the Devils, the Lightning started energetically and never stopped. It had to against a Panthers team scrambling to get within smelling distance of the eighth-seeded Islanders.
Florida added some intrigue with two third-period goals, one by Valeri Bure on a five-on-three with 7:54 left, but Nikolai Khabibulin made 29 saves to win his eighth straight.
Dmitry Afanasenkov, who scored the first goal Friday, gave Tampa Bay an easy-looking 1-0 lead 1:27 into the game when he backhanded in his sixth of the season.
It was the first in a bright night for occasional offensive contributors.
"Some nights, Vinny (Lecavalier) and (St. Louis) might not have it, but (Dave) Andreychuk will come back or (Cory Stillman) will," said Andre Roy, who had his first assist since March 12, 2003. "Everyone is supportive, and that's what I think is surprising a lot of teams."
Bure's 19th goal of the season tied it at 1 at 9:20 of the first. And Florida appeared in prime position to add more at 11:52 when a long shift of stout hitting resulted in a two-minute roughing penalty on defenseman Jassen Cullimore and subsequent bench minor served by Afanasenkov.
A series that began with a hard check by Panthers left wing Darcy Hordichuk on Lightning defenseman Cory Sarich ended when it appeared Hordichuk took a dive to draw the penalty.
Florida's power play was a similar flop, managing four harmless shots.
Three minutes later, the Lightning demonstrated how the power play is run. There was no one more qualified than Andreychuk, who faked away defenseman Mathieu Biron and scored his league-record 267th power-play goal. Tampa Bay took a 3-1 lead at 18:47 when Stillman shoveled the puck off the arm of goaltender Roberto Luongo for his 22nd of the season. Dan Boyle's seventh of the season made it 4-1 at 2:23 of the second. Twelve minutes later, Dingman scored for the first time since Oct. 26, 2002, when he shoveled a puck on net that slipped between the right pipe and Luongo's pads and squirted in for a 5-1 lead.
"It was nice to chip in," Dingman said. "It was getting a little frustrating, but the thing is we got an important two points to keep this thing going."
