Feaster feels for Denis

By EDUARDO A. ENCINA, Times Staff Writer
Published December 30, 2007

Goalie Marc Denis looks back at the puck on the goal line after making the save off Montreal Canadiens' Saku Koivu during the shootout of the Lightning's 3-2 win on Dec. 11. Denis didn't start another game for Tampa Bay.
	[AP photo]

TAMPA - As Lightning general manager Jay Feaster told goaltender Marc Denis he was being placed on waivers, Denis made his case.

He pointed to receiving just four starts, all on the back end of back-to-back games and all on the road. And after his best game of the season, a 3-2 shootout win in Montreal on Dec. 11, he never started again.

Denis, who cleared waivers Saturday and was reassigned to the Lightning's AHL team in Norfolk, was careful with his words when talking to the St. Petersburg Times, choosing to look ahead, but did express disappointment that he never received another start after his last outing.

"Certainly he had a tough go of it in terms of games he was asked to play," Feaster said Saturday. "And unfortunately the reality is that if he's not playing, all you can do is take advantage of the time you get put in there and show up to practice every day and give the coach a reason to put you in the game.

"It isn't always fair."

Denis, 30, will report to the Admirals and make his first start Monday in Wilkes-Barre.

"I've had GMs say that their guys really like him and they don't understand his numbers right now," Feaster said. "From that standpoint, there are clearly teams who recognize that he's an NHL goaltender and that he can play and that he has had success even though he has not been able to have success here."

GETTING PHYSICAL: The Flyers had a plan to get physical with Lightning goaltender Karri Ramo on Saturday, as several times Philadelphia players swarmed the crease and bumped into the 21-year-old rookie.

The strategy worked for the Flyers. Lightning defenseman Paul Ranger took a two-minute cross-checking penalty when Flyers forward Scott Upshall skated over Ramo. Philadelphia's Daniel Briere (roughing) and Tampa Bay's Marty St. Louis (cross-checking) also received penalties in the aftermath. Fifteen seconds later, Mike Knuble scored in a crowd in front of the net, the first of three consecutive goals.

"To me, there's not a worse feeling to see an opposing player over your goalie," coach John Tortorella said. "It's a very tough situation ... because defensemen aren't really allowed to do anything."

ODDS AND ENDS: Vinny Lecavalier's power-play goal in the first period was the Lightning's first in five games, stretching a span of nine man advantages. ... The team had no scratches. ... Tampa Bay won 56 percent of its faceoffs (38-for-68).

[Last modified December 29, 2007, 23:48:20]