The Lightning coach wants Nikolai Khabibulin and John Grahame to play better than they have lately.
By DAMIAN CRISTODERO
Published March 18, 2004
TAMPA - Lightning coach John Tortorella wanted it clear he was not pointing fingers, but simply pointing out a potential problem. He was not laying blame, but laying it on the line.
A day after expressing "concern" about the goaltending Tampa Bay has gotten lately from Nikolai Khabibulin and John Grahame, Tortorella said it again. This time, he smacked the back of one hand into the palm of the other for emphasis.
"We have the best tandem in the league when they're on, but they have to do it more consistently," Tortorella said Wednesday. "It has to be done more consistently this time of year in circumstances where the games are going to be a lot closer. So I do have concerns, yes."
It might seem an odd time for such a public declaration. The Lightning is on top of the East, No. 2 in the league and 26-5-2-4 since Jan. 3.
But Khabibulin and Grahame have a combined .898 save percentage during that stretch (.900 is considered acceptable) and a 2.39 goals-against average. The argument, then, is that had Tampa Bay not averaged 3.7 goals since Jan. 3, with a league-high 137, that record might have suffered.
Only the Sabres, Capitals, Blues, Thrashers and Penguins have fewer than Tampa Bay's four shutouts, and the Lightning is 4-19-7-1 in games in which it scored two or fewer goals.
Tortorella didn't want to hear stats. His worry is the playoffs, when offense is even tougher to come by and games are more likely to turn on critical saves. His worries became acute after the Lightning scored just two goals in its first consecutive regulation losses since Dec. 16; 5-1 Saturday to the Hurricanes and 3-1 Tuesday to the Islanders.
"That is playoff hockey," Tortorella said. "We are not going to score three, four, five goals in playoff hockey. We have to learn how to win those games."
Part of that, Tortorella said, is to create more scoring chances than the nine it had against New York.
"It's not only goaltending," Tortorella said. "Teams are going to check us. We are being hunted. They will check us, and we have to fight through that. But it starts and ends with goaltending."
Khabibulin almost certainly will be Tampa Bay's playoff starter. But the final nine games of the regular season could determine how much slack he is cut if he struggles.
Khabibulin took it all in stride.
"I don't think it really affects me," he said. "I know what I have to do on the ice. I have to provide the teams with saves. Whether it is fair or unfair doesn't change the way I approach the game. Whether it's 1-0 or 5-0, I'm still trying to stop every shot."
"I think you have to take it with a grain of salt," Grahame said. "A goalie is in a good spotlight for that stuff to happen. It's part of it."
Both goalies have had ups and downs.
Khabibulin is 25-16-7 with a 2.31 goals-against average and .911 save percentage. But he has a 2.54 goals-against average and .893 save percentage since Jan. 3. And that includes a .919 save percentage in a 9-0-1 streak that ended Tuesday, when a bad goal sparked New York's three-goal third period.
Grahame is 16-8-1 with a 1.99 goals-against average (seventh in the league entering Wednesday) and .913 save percentage. He has won 11 of his past 14 starts but lost two of his past three with an .871 save percentage. He has played just three of the Lightning's past 14 games.
"So I think we're basically talking about Nik here because Johnny hasn't played much," goaltenders coach Jeff Reese said. "For Nik, there are a few goals he'd like to have back, but he's winning and that's what he's paid to do."
As for Tortorella's comments, Reese said, "That's the way Torts does it. ... I think they're being challenged, and they're going to respond to it. I know they will down the stretch and in the playoffs. I'm confident they're going to be there for our hockey club."
Tortorella hopes so.
"The fact of life is," he said, "in close games, playoff hockey, it starts and ends with goaltending."
