Lightning coach John Tortorella isn't panicking, but he wants his top players to raise their game.
By DAMIAN CRISTODERO
Published May 31, 2004
[Times photo: Dan McDuffie]
The Lightning's Vinny Lecavalier takes a blow from Jarome Iginla. The team's six major penalties for fighting are the most in a Cup final since 1987. Fight or you're finished Game 4 Tonight: Tampa Bay at Calgary, 8 p.m.; WFTS-TV Ch. 28, WDAE-AM 620
CALGARY - Lightning coach John Tortorella wanted to be clear he was not pointing fingers. He was not issuing challenges.
He was just stating facts.
Still, when a coach names names, even within a broader point about the intensity needed to play in the Stanley Cup final, it raises eyebrows.
Asked Sunday if he believes wing Martin St. Louis, who has scored just three goals since April 16, will raise his game, Tortorella said, "He has to along with Vinny (Lecavalier), Richy (Brad Richards), (Fredrik) Modin, (Cory) Stillman, they all have to raise their games. It's not a criticism. It's not calling them out. As each game goes by in a finals, you're damn right they better raise their level."
And if Tampa Bay doesn't want to fall into a hole from which it might not emerge, they better do it tonight in Game 4 against the Flames at the Pengrowth Saddledome.
Win and the best-of-seven series is tied at two games apiece with two of the last three at the St. Pete Times Forum. Lose and Calgary leads three games to one and, well, you get the idea.
But how about Tortorella using his top players as an example the day after a 3-0 loss in Game 3 in which neither of his two offensive lines made much of an impact?
"I am not pointing a finger at them," the coach said. "You know as well as I do that the way the team is, the way we play, your offensive people have to be your best players. Your best players have to be your best players for both teams."
"I totally agree," Modin said. "The guys he's talking about are the guys who have scored the most goals. It's that kind of time right now."
Yes it is.
The Lightning hasn't won consecutive games in a series since Games 3 and 4 of the East semifinal with the Canadiens. It is 5-5 in its past 10 and scored just nine goals in the five losses, including three straight on the road.
For Tortorella, the equation is easy.
The Flames, he said, have become more and more defensive as the series progressed, concentrating on disrupting the Lightning's attack in the Calgary zone while waiting for, and taking advantage of, whatever offensive chances develop.
That means Tampa Bay's ability to maintain its forecheck and hold the puck in the offensive zone takes on greater urgency. The Lightning did that well in a 4-1 win in Game 2. It showed up only in spurts in Game 3. But give the Flames some credit.
"That's one of our focuses," center Stephane Yelle said. "We take a lot of pride in our defensive game and the game in our own end. When you limit the chances and you keep teams off the boards, that's what we aim for. That's what we have done."
"There are no outnumbered situations," Lightning captain Dave Andreychuk said. "They are going to use their speed to chase pucks but other than that they got four guys back. We're going to have to grind it out. That's the way we're going to win the series."
Tortorella agreed.
"The way Calgary plays and the way they are playing as each game goes by, there is not going to be much off the rush," he said. "But however they play, we need to play our game. It's a matter of doing it better."
That also would help a power play that scored nine times in the East final against the Flyers but is only 2-for-17 against Calgary. And that brings us back to the top two lines.
"It's not one particular guy," Tortorella said. "So it doesn't matter what (the Flames) are doing. It's what we do. That's the most important thing. Each one of our offensive people has to do a better job raising their level."
"He's said that before," Andreychuk said. "He says that after every time we lose. That inspires his players. There's no secrets. We know the guys that have carried us, and they will respond."
Not to him, Tortorella said, to the situation.
"I know they will respond the right way," he said. "I have no question about that."
