'I can really stop these pucks'

All but one, that is. However, that is good enough as Karri Ramo earns a win in his first career start.

By DAMIAN CRISTODERO, Times Staff Writer
Published December 21, 2007

With Boyd Devereaux in front, Lightning rookie Karri Ramo makes one of his 12 saves of the third period and 31 for the game.
	[Douglas R. Clifford | Times]

ADVERTISEMENT [Douglas R. Clifford | Times] Vinny Lecavalier, left, and Marty St. Louis celebrate Lecavalier's winning goal, which came with 41.6 seconds left in the third. [Douglas R. Clifford | Times] As Mats Sundin skates away, Filip Kuba and Shane O'Brien congratulate 21-year-old Karri Ramo after the final horn.

TAMPA - Karri Ramo admitted to a few butterflies before Thursday night's game against the Maple Leafs.

Not surprising, really. It was the Lightning goaltender's first game after his much-anticipated call-up from AHL Norfolk. He faced a team with, as he said, some pretty big names.

And in the opposite net: friend and fellow Finn Vesa Toskala.

About three saves into the game, though, Ramo said he figured, "I can really stop these pucks. I was feeling good."

Ramo no doubt felt great after a 2-1 victory at the St. Pete Times Forum in which he made 31 saves - 12 in a third period in which Tampa Bay was outshot by eight - for his first NHL victory in his first NHL start.

"It was huge," center Vinny Lecavalier said of Ramo's effort. "He made some unbelievable saves. We played well defensively, but he made the saves when he needed to. He was sharp."

"I'm still thinking about it," said Ramo, 21, who played 70 minutes in two games last season. "It was a great game for us, and there was that kind of desperation when we needed it in the third period."

Ramo's effort, and Lecavalier's winning goal with 41.6 seconds remaining off a pass from Marty St. Louis, could not have come at a better time for the Lightning (15-17-3), which had lost three straight and five of six while falling to 14th (among 15 teams) in the East.

The win also snapped asix-game losing streak to the Maple Leafs and pushed Tampa Bay to just six points back of the first-place Hurricanes in the Southeast Division.

As a confidence boost, said Jason Ward, whose goal with 1:19 left in the second period tied the score at 1, "It was huge."

As a blueprint for how the Lightning wants to play, it was a start.

For the most part, Tampa Bay played a good defensive game, kept the bulk of shots to the outside, blocked 14 and limited Toronto's second chances. And when the Maple Leafs surged in the third, Ramo was there.

Toronto's only goal, which gave it a 1-0 lead with 3:24 left in the second period, came when Matt Stajan's shot hit the stick of Lightning defenseman Doug Janik in front of the net and deflected past the goalie.

Other than that, Ramo (pronounced RAH-moh, by the way, not RAY-moh) covered all the angles.

During a first-period Maple Leafs power play, he quickly moved side to side and ventured above the crease to challenge Toronto captain Mats Sundin, who had nowhere to shoot but into Ramo's body.

"I felt good there," Ramo said. "And when you're feeling good, you can make those saves."

"He looked like he was under control all the time," Toskala said.

For one game, at least.

"He certainly exudes confidence," said associate coach Mike Sullivan, who commented, the team said, because Tortorella was in a meeting. "He brings a youthful enthusiasm to the position. I think that's contagious for our team."

Still, he added, "I don't think anyone is going to get ahead of themselves. It was a solid effort from everyone and a solid effort from him, and it's two points this team needed. We've got to look forward and look to the next game."

With Ramo perhaps in net.

Lightning 0 1 1 2 Maple Leafs 0 1 0 1

First Period-None. Penalties-Wozniewski, Tor (slashing), 9:57; Hlavac, TB (hooking), 18:44.

Second Period-1, Toronto, Stajan 9 (Steen), 16:36. 2, Tampa Bay, Ward 5 (Lecavalier, Lundin), 18:41. Penalties-Janik, TB (interference), 1:40; Antropov, Tor (interference), 6:16; Gill, Tor (slashing), 8:59.

Third Period-3, Tampa Bay, Lecavalier 23 (St. Louis, O'Brien), 19:18. Penalty-Kuba, TB (holding), :10. Shots on Goal-Toronto 8-12-12-32. Tampa Bay 11-6-4-21. Power-play opportunities-Toronto 0 of 3; Tampa Bay 0 of 3. Goalies-Toronto, Toskala 12-11-4 (21 shots-19 saves). Tampa Bay, Ramo 1-0-0 (32-31). A-19,131 (19,758).

Lightning 2

Leafs 1

[Last modified December 21, 2007, 01:11:08]