Lightning problems mount

BRUINS 4, LIGHTNING 2: Tampa Bay struggles with offense, power play, penalties and defense.

By TOM JONES
Published October 11, 2005

	[Times photo: Dirk Shadd]
	Lightning goalie John Grahame lets a shot from P.J. Axelsson slip past late in the second period Monday night.

TAMPA - The biggest cause for furrowed brows among Lightning faithful entering the 2005-06 season was wondering whether John Grahame could replace Nikolai Khabibulin in goal.

Right now, that's the least of the Lightning's worries.

For starters, Grahame hasn't been all that bad. Besides, the Lightning has plenty of other problems.

Such as inept scoring. Such as a powerless power play. Such as an inability to stay out of the penalty box. Such as leaks in the defensive zone.

Come to think of it, the Lightning is struggling in just about every facet.

All the obstacles were on display Monday night and the result was a somewhat alarming 4-2 loss to the Boston Bruins in front of 20,032 at the St. Pete Times Forum.

"We couldn't get out of our own way tonight," Lightning coach John Tortorella said. "And don't ask me why. I don't have answer for that."

The season started promising with the Lightning raising the Stanley Cup banner and then looking every bit the defending champion with a blowout win against Carolina.

It seemed as if the Lightning really was good enough to flip a switch, erasing a troubling conclusion to the preseason with an auspicious start.

Slowly and surely, however, the warts of the preseason have started to reappear. By Monday night, the Lightning was downright ugly.

"Sloppy is how I would describe it," defenseman Dan Boyle said.

Some numbers don't really tell the story. Take shots on goal, usually a decent barometer. The Lightning outshot the Bruins 28-24, but it piled up most of those shots late, well after Boston had built a 4-1 lead and knocked Grahame from the game.

But some numbers only emphasize the Lightning's woes. For example, it was penalized seven times, including one for too many men on the ice that wiped out a power play.

Not that the power play was doing much. Despite a bench full of offensive stars, the Lightning power play continues to struggle. It went 0-for-6 Monday to run its slump to 2-for-28.

"Right now, we're trying to make plays and they're just not working," Boyle said. "You put the same guys out there two weeks from now and they will look great out there. Right now, we're just struggling."

Monday's first period might have been the Lightning's worst of the season, yet it led 1-0 after Fredrik Modin's second goal of the season.

"We stopped playing a little bit in the second period," forward Vinny Prospal said. "We just can't be dumb and take that many penalties."

Boston tied the score, took its first lead in regulation this season in four games and scored four unanswered goals in all - two in the second and two in the third. The last goal finally knocked Grahame, who had little help all night, from the game in favor of Sean Burke, who made his Lightning debut with 10:28 left in the third period.

Boyle scored late, but it was too late.

"We just didn't play well ... in all facets of the game," Tortorella said.

After resting Sunday, the Lightning went back to work and no one, most of all Tortorella, saw Monday's dud coming.

"No, not at all, I thought we were ready to play," Tortorella said. "But when the game started, we looked surprised that there was another team on the ice."

Of course, it's only four games into the season and there's no reason for the Lightning to panic, especially with a still-respectable 2-2 record. Still, there is reason for concern.

[Last modified October 11, 2005, 01:58:15]