Sports: Lightning's pain grows in 3-1 loss

Lightning's pain grows in 3-1 loss

A breakaway goal with 1:45 remaining helps give Montreal the victory.

By DAMIAN CRISTODERO

MONTREAL -- As far as growing pains go, this one is going to smart for a while.

It's one thing to lose on the road, Lightning coach John Tortorella said. It's another thing to have a chance to win, or at least tie, and not be able to close the deal.

It's even worse when your mistakes contribute directly to the downfall.

Such was the case Thursday night when the Canadiens defeated the Lightning 3-1 before 19,793 at the Molson Centre.

"That was a perfect situation to learn how to handle a road game," Tortorella said. "It's another growing pain. We have to learn from that. We have to get things done in these games."

The process might have been easier had the Lightning mustered more than a season-low 13 shots at Canadiens goaltender Mathieu Garon just one game after pouring a season-high 41 at Buffalo's Dominik Hasek.

But that didn't bother Tortorella as much as the defensive mixup that led to Juha Lind's go-ahead goal with 1:45 left in the game and Tampa Bay's eighth loss in its last nine games.

Lightning defenseman Andrei Zyuzin said he was trying to help fellow defenseman Cory Sarich defend against Lind. But Zyuzin ended up clipping Sarich, which knocked both off balance and gave Lind an opening and a breakaway.

Lind beat goaltender Kevin Weekes to the top corner for a 2-1 lead. Craig Darby's open-netter with 18.7 seconds left finished the scoring.

The game had been tied at 1 on third-period goals by Brian Savage and the Lightning's Nils Ekman, who got his first of the season.

"It's very frustrating to have a major breakdown with two minutes left on the road when there is no way a breakdown should happen," Tortorella said. "I can't explain what we were thinking."

Zyuzin said he saw Lind in the neutral zone and thought, "I had to jump on that guy. ... But I ended up being too close to Cory Sarich."

Zyuzin, who tied for the team lead with three blocked shots, said his heart sank when he saw Lind score.

"But I have to try (to make a play)," he said. "If you're not going to try it, you're never going to play."

"We have to learn from that," Tortorella said.

Some lessons should have sunk in by now. The team needs to use its greatest asset, its speed, to press the forecheck and create scoring chances.

Yes, the Canadiens kept a third man back on defense and stayed strong on the blue line, but the Lightning, as forward Martin St. Louis said, had "no flow. Nothing was clicking."

The result: a 30-13 shot disadvantage.

Good thing for Tampa Bay that Weekes was sharp and made 27 saves.

The Lightning could have been ahead 2-0 in the second period had it not been for a fabulous save by Garon and a mis-hit by St. Louis.

The save came 6:39 into the second period when Garon kicked out his right leg to stop Ekman, who one-timed a perfect pass from Ryan Johnson.

"He saved it with the blade of his skate," Ekman said. "It was an unbelievable save, a highlight save."

"I was desperate," Garon said. "This is the kind of save a goalie has to make."

It happened so quickly, Ekman was not credited with a shot.

St. Louis had a similar setup at 15:53 when Brad Richards fed him cross-ice to Garon's left. St. Louis didn't get all of the puck and missed an open net.

"The second and third periods we played okay," Lightning forward Brian Holzinger said. "We say it over and over again, okay is not good enough. We have to keep plugging along and pay attention to details. That's the only way we're going to get out of this."

Oh, and one more thing.

"If we allow a breakaway with the score 1-1 with two minutes left on the road," Tortorella said, "we're in trouble."