Vinny outplays top picks
LIGHTNING 3, PENS 1: Lecavalier relegates Pittsburgh stars Lemieux, Crosby to the background in win.
By TOM JONES
Published October 16, 2005
PITTSBURGH - Flash back to last week.
As the Lightning was closing shop on another practice session, coach John Tortorella skated a beeline for star center Vinny Lecavalier and, one could only guess, told him in his no-beating-around-the-bush way that he wanted more.
More effort. More jam. More elbow grease.
The next day, a quiet heart-to-heart with an actual pat on the back delivered the same message.
Lecavalier's face after both chats didn't reveal if the message got through, but his response Saturday was his most dominating performance of the season as the Lightning beat the Penguins 3-1 in front of a standing-room-only crowd of 17,132 at Mellon Arena.
In a game that featured two famous No. 1 picks (Pittsburgh's Mario Lemieux, 1984, and Sidney Crosby, 2005), it was the Lightning's 1998 No. 1 pick who was at the game's epicenter with a goal and two assists.
"The last game (against Buffalo on Thursday) was the most I've seen him go to the net in quite a while," Tortorella said. "He played very well (Saturday) on both sides of the ice. Very well."
So well that Lecavalier admitted it was his best of the young season even if he would not buy into the notion he wasn't the old Vinny through the first four games.
"For things happening, yes (it was my best game of the season)," Lecavalier said. "But I am (pleased with the way I played before Saturday). I missed a lot of opportunities and it was a little frustrating, but I think I was playing well. Now I'm shooting more and I'm getting better and better opportunities and they went in (Saturday)."
Then again, maybe it wasn't Tortorella's pep talks, but Saturday's opponent. Lecavalier has more goals (17) against Pittsburgh than any other opponent, and he has 24 points in 25 games. He always seems to save a little extra juice for games against the legend Lemieux.
"Playing against Mario is motivating," said Lecavalier, who became friends with Lemieux during the 2004 World Cup of Hockey. "He was an idol growing up. I look up to him. To play against him is special."
The line of Lecavalier, Vinny Prospal and Ruslan Fedotenko produced all three Lightning goals with Fedotenko and Prospal each picking up a goal and an assist.
Meantime, goalie Sean Burke made 20 saves to win his first Lightning start.
Even though John Grahame has a 7-1-1 record with a 1.88 goals-against average in nine games against the Penguins, Tortorella picked Saturday to give Burke his first start.
"I thought Burkey looked very confident in the net," Tortorella said. "As far as why (Burke) ... I'm not a big believer in (statistics) and I thought it was a good time to play Burke."
Make that the right time. Burke made his coach look prophetic, withstanding early and late charges for the victory.
"It felt good to play and it felt even better to play and get a win," Burke said.
Even the 17-year veteran admitted he had a few jitters before his first start with his new team.
"I was more nervous the last couple of days," Burke said. "I haven't played in a while and I was thinking more about the game than I normally do. That was the toughest - the buildup in my own mind."
It never showed, however, as he allowed only one goal, a Ziggy Palffy blast early in the third period. By that point, the Lightning had a 3-0 lead and was in the midst of its most sturdy defensive effort of the season.
Tortorella gave his usual "still have quite a few things to work on" and thought the Lightning was "sloppy" as the Pens tried to rally in the third period.
But overall, he saw it as a step in the right direction.
The step, Saturday, was right behind Burke and, especially, Lecavalier.