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Lightning's slide reaches nine

A late lead at Florida turns into a 3-2 loss on Bure's goal :59 into OT.

By DAMIAN CRISTODERO

© St. Petersburg Times, published January 28, 2001

SUNRISE -- Goaltender Kevin Weekes took one look at Saturday night's stat sheet and flicked it angrily to the floor of the Lightning locker room.

It wasn't that Tampa Bay had lost 3-2 in overtime to the Panthers in front of 14,612 at National Car Rental Center, though with losses in nine consecutive and 13 of 14 games, any defeat is bad.

What irked Weekes was that the Lightning allowed Pavel Bure's winning goal 59 seconds into the extra period, his second of the game and 28th of the season, by blowing a coverage the team worked on in practice the day before.

"Just deny the net," he said. "It's something we worked on (Friday), so there's no excuse why it's not fresh in our minds today."

The Lightning got a point for the regulation tie. That is a step when you consider the last points Tampa Bay got were for a Jan. 10 victory over the Maple Leafs. It also nudged one point ahead of the Islanders in the race to avoid the NHL's worst record.

But it lost forward Alexander Kharitonov, who left in the second period with a bruised knee. And the game showcased the problems coach John Tortorella has been trying constantly to correct.

Tampa Bay again allowed a team to get the best of it in the third period, and has been outscored 17-3 in that period during its past eight games.

And it failed to cover Bure.

The right wing has 15 goals, 12 assists in 15 games against Tampa Bay and scored the winner by tipping a cross-pass from Robert Svehla.

Lightning center Brad Richards took the blame.

"I lost him," the rookie said. "It's pretty simple. He got away. I played high and didn't follow him down to the net. "A little mental breakdown," Richards said, "and we don't get the game."

The game was a tour de force for Bure, who played 27:16 on 28 shifts and took a game-high six shots. This after playing 27:28 Friday and getting a goal and two assists in a 5-4 overtime loss to the Senators.

Panthers coach Duane Sutter even started Bure on defense in the overtime to cause problems for Tampa Bay's coverages.

"I didn't know how much he'd have left in his tank," Sutter said, "but I think he got better as the game went on."

On the plus side for Tampa Bay, it played with considerable energy. And Tortorella said the point is a step in the right direction.

"I'm not overly disappointed," he said. "We took a step, got to overtime, got a point."

"But it's still a loss," defenseman Jassen Cullimore said. "It seems right now we have to put together a perfect game to get a win."

Fredrik Modin scored his 22nd goal to give Tampa Bay a 1-0 first-period lead. And Brian Holzinger tipped in Craig Millar's shot with 1:47 left in the second to put the Lightning ahead 2-1.

But Marcus Nilson tied the score at 2 with 5:13 left. Nilson was left unattended to Weekes' right when he converted a pass from Bret Hedican, but Tortorella said the coverage was there.

"It was a funny goal because (the puck) went through three people," he said.

Nothing funny about it, said Holzinger, who lamented that Tampa Bay couldn't close the deal.

"We just have to find some way," he said. "I don't know if we're afraid of losing and afraid to take the bull by the horns and get the win. And that is not a good sign."

Weekes, who made 27 saves as the Lightning was outshot 30-21, put an exclamation on that with his toss of the stat sheet.

UP NEXT: Lightning at Carolina, 7 p.m. Monday. TV: Sunshine.

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