Lite: 3-game streak is nice, but not big

TAMPA -- Below the loud music and positivespeak that flood the Lightning locker room following three straight wins, there are quiet whispers of caution.

It's only three wins, after all, far from the eight straight Edmonton hauls into town for a 7:30 game tonight at the Ice Palace.

"We have no right to get big," Tampa Bay coach John Tortorella said. "To be a good team you need to play with the type of arrogance to feel good about yourself and get the job done.

"But to think and have an arrogance that success is just going to happen, you have no chance. Our team isn't good enough to let that happen. ... Two weeks or three weeks (of improved play) isn't consistency."

The Lightning was 3-1 last week with consecutive victories against San Jose and Carolina, two probable playoff teams, and expansion Columbus. Credit goes to improved play on defense and special teams, and solid netminding by Kevin Weekes.

"We haven't accomplished anything yet," right wing Matthew Barnaby said. "But we're making strides. ... It makes it easier to buy into a program when you start seeing the accolades that go along with that."

This week against Edmonton, Toronto on Thursday and Pittsburgh on Saturday should provide a more revealing test to determine how much the Lightning really has improved.

All three would make the playoffs if the season ended today. "It's going to be three kind of different games as far as the teams we're facing," center Ryan Johnson said. "Each will be a good test to see where we're at."

A victory by Edmonton would break a 16-year-old team record, tie the league's longest win streak this season and strengthen its hold on the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference.

The Oilers last won eight straight games in 1985.

"I just told Charlie (Huddy), we respect those five Stanley Cup rings and all, but enjoy it because it's going down on Tuesday," a smiling Doug Weight told the Edmonton Sun after Sunday's win against Carolina. "Don't live in the past. It's going down Tuesday."

Barnaby responded Monday: "They think they're going to win. We feel we're going to win. That should make for a great matchup."

The Lightning appears to have a legitimate chance of beating Edmonton for its first four-game win streak since February 1997 considering its recent performance and past games against playoff-bound teams.

Tampa Bay beat St. Louis Feb. 20, Buffalo Feb. 1, Detroit Dec. 2 and played to a scoreless tie against Philadelphia Feb. 24.

"We've matched up with the good teams much better as of late than we did earlier on," Weekes said. "We can feed off of that."

The Lightning showed improvement last week.

The power play was 0 for its previous 22 entering the Columbus game on Saturday but went 3 for 7 against the Blue Jackets. The penalty kill continued to shine and has killed 19 straight penalties.

And what more can be said about Weekes, who will make his third consecutive start tonight? He was 3-0 with a 0.65 goals-against average, one shutout and a .967 save percentage last week. "You can see as far as defensively we were a lot more confident, playing a lot more sure of ourselves," Johnson said. "You don't need to score a ton of goals in this league to win hockey games. ... It's definitely some of the best hockey we've played all year. We've got to continue that and learn to be consistent and not just sporadically play well."

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