TAMPA - Whether it was the preseason training program or just dumb luck, the Lightning lost just 34 man games to injury or illness in the regular season.
If you discount the nine games credited to Stan Neckar, who came from the Predators with a groin injury, it is 25 games.
The NHL does not keep track of man games lost, but the Canadiens have kept count since the 1999-2000 season. According to spokesman Dominick Saillant, the low was 81 by the 2000-01 Devils.
Dave Andreychuk, Tim Taylor, Brad Richards, Fredrik Modin, Cory Sarich and Martin St. Louis played every game. Vinny Lecavalier missed one due to a suspension. Pavel Kubina missed one game, he said, for rest. "It's a mental toughness," coach John Tortorella said. "To handle the bumps and bruises you have to have a determination mentally. You have to show them a tremendous amount of respect to get through it."
Special merit goes to Andreychuk because he is 40; Taylor, who has not missed a game in two seasons after a groin injury in 2001-02 almost ended his career; Modin, who has fought injuries the past two seasons; and Richards, who has not missed any games due to injury in four NHL seasons.
"I take a lot of pride in it," Richards said. "Obviously, the days off (that Tortorella provides) and taking care of my body in the summer has a lot to do with it."
PERRIN IN: Eric Perrin might have earned a spot on the playoff roster. The center played his fourth consecutive game since being called up from AHL Hershey, and Tortorella used center Martin Cibak, whom Perrin displaced on the fourth line, as a third-line wing.
"That's probably a better spot for him to crack the lineup right now," Tortorella said. "Eric Perrin has played well."
Perrin has zero points and has averaged 8:31 of ice time. But he was robbed of a goal Thursday against the Panthers and has won 60 percent of his faceoffs (18 of 30). "If he is going to crack that fourth line," the coach said of Cibak, "it may be as a wing."
ODDS AND ENDS: Lecavalier's missed penalty shot was the team's 14th consecutive failure dating to Rob Zamuner's goal in January 1997. Tampa Bay is 2-for-19 all time. ... The Lightning's 245 goals tied a franchise record. ... Tampa Bay's home attendance of 730,634 is a St. Pete Times Forum record. The average of 17,820 is 1,275 more than last season. ... Entering Saturday, St. Louis, with 56 assists, and Cory Stillman, with 55, were 1-2 in the league.
