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Weekes shuts out Carolina

Lightning goalie wins third straight on Martin St. Louis' last-minute goal.

By KEVIN KELLY

© St. Petersburg Times, published March 9, 2001

TAMPA -- Perfection is not perfect enough.

Not even a second shutout in three games can quench Kevin Weekes' desire to get better each day, to prove he deserves to be a No. 1 goaltender in the NHL.

"There's a lot of room for improvement," he said after Thursday's 1-0 win against Carolina before an announced 10,656 at the Ice Palace. "There's no sense of complacency in me because I know I could get a lot better."

Many in the Tampa Bay locker room would argue to the contrary as Weekes stopped 20 shots against Carolina for his fifth shutout of the season.

"Weeksie is as big as a house in goal right now," right wing Martin St. Louis said afterward.

The Lightning stayed tied long enough against Carolina to allow St. Louis to score the winner on a rebound with 58.4 seconds remaining to give Tampa Bay its second straight win and first in five games against the Hurricanes this season.

"It doesn't matter if you lose 3-0 or 4-0 and you make 42 saves," said Weekes, who hasn't allowed a goal in his past 113 minutes of play. "That's not really that important to me.

"I'd much rather have it this way, where I know, as a team, myself included, we've elevated our level of play. It's not five of us. It's not six of us. You look around the room, there's a lot more guys that have elevated their level."

But the focus has been on Weekes' splendid play since the Lightning acquired the rights to Nikolai Khabibulin on Monday.

Having won the right to be called the Lightning's No. 1 goalie earlier this season, he doesn't willingly admit the trade affected him.

Others around him know there's no way it couldn't have.

"He's answering the bell," coach John Tortorella said. "That's nice to see. He's battled through some of the stuff that has gone on around him. I hope he can continue doing it."

Tortorella also hopes his team can continue battling like it did for 60 minutes against the Hurricanes, who are fighting Boston for the eighth playoff spot in the East.

Despite registering just one shot against Arturs Irbe in the first and five in the second, the Lightning didn't let up like it had so many times this season.

With one minute left, St. Louis disappeared along the boards to the left of Irbe and tried to free the puck.

"I saw there were two guys on me and (Brian) Holzinger was behind the two guys," he said. "I was just hoping to stay there and get it to him. Once he took two or three strides, I knew if I could get the puck to him that he would be able to get to the middle and maybe get a shot off."

Holzinger took the pass and charged toward Irbe before firing a wrist shot. Irbe, who faced 15 shots, stopped it but the rebound bounced to his left.

"I just went to the net," St. Louis said. "I didn't want to go too quick to the net because then I was afraid the rebound would blow by me. I took my time and just let the puck come to me."

His 12th goal gave the Lightning its 19th win, which ties the club's total for each of the past two seasons. Fourteen games remain.

"We just could not put the puck in the net," Carolina coach Paul Maurice said. "It came down to a one-shot game and they got it."

The win may have come a little easier, and earlier, had Tampa Bay's struggling power play converted on one of its four chances. The Lightning failed to get a shot with the man advantage and is six for its past 103 on the power play.

"It's not working obviously," Tortorella said. "I think if that works, it makes some of these games a bit easier. We may kick a goal in once or twice."

The Lightning won despite not having two of its top defensemen -- Pavel Kubina and Jassen Cullimore. It also lost left wing Todd Warriner after six shifts in the second due to a strained medial collateral ligament in his left knee.

"We've got to continue improving, continue to do it night in and night out," Tortorella said. "That's when become a competitive team."

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