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Canadiens storm past Lightning

By DAMIAN CRISTODERO

© St. Petersburg Times, published March 30, 2001

TAMPA -- There was plenty of blame to go around the Lightning locker room after Thursday night's 6-2 loss to the Canadiens.

And there were plenty of people willing to accept it.

Defenseman Andrei Zyuzin said he and his teammates were feeling so good after a well-played first period that produced a 1-0 lead, they let down and didn't respond when Montreal started to push.

Goaltender Kevin Weekes blamed himself in a voice barely above a whisper for allowing Martin Rucinsky to score on a second-period penalty shot, and Richard Zednik to score less than two minutes after Tampa Bay took a 2-1 second-period lead.

But it was forward Matthew Barnaby who was the winner in the self-flagellation derby as Tampa Bay lost its fourth straight before an announced 11,542 at the Ice Palace.

"My two stupid plays cost us two goals and put us back on our heels," he said.

Before we get to that, let's give the Canadiens some due. Rucinsky had a goal and two assists. Oleg Petrov scored twice. Mathieu Garon, making his third start in 15 games -- and whose last victory was Jan. 18 against the Lightning -- made 29 saves as Tampa Bay outshot Montreal 31-24.

Let us also note that a five-minute major penalty (and a game misconduct) on Gordie Dwyer for a scary knee-to-knee hit on Jan Bulis, and a slashing call on Fredrik Modin, set the stage for Montreal's Patrice Brisebois to score the winner on a four-on-three power play with 1:59 left in the second.

"Two turnovers, two goals and penalties," Lightning coach John Tortorella said. "And we can't score more than two goals. We had our opportunities, but their goalie certainly gave them a chance."

"I guess," forward Brad Richards said, "they were opportunists and we weren't."

Now, let's get to Barnaby.

Tampa Bay led 1-0 thanks to Ben Clymer's first-period power-play goal.

Early in the second, Barnaby said he thought he saw a Lightning player break into the clear as the team tried to escape the defensive zone. He admitted he never saw Rucinsky, who stole the pass and scampered off on a breakaway. Zyuzin dove and knocked the puck away, but he also tripped Rucinsky, prompting referee Paul Stewart to call a penalty shot.

Rucinsky cashed in 4:11 into the period with a backhander over Weekes' outstretched left leg.

After Nils Ekman gave Tampa Bay a 2-1 lead at 10:57, Barnaby's second giveaway led to Zednik's tying tally at 12:52.

Zednik snuck behind Barnaby in a faceoff circle in the Lightning zone, lifted his stick, stole the puck and deked his way around Weekes.

"I just didn't make those two saves and it turned the game around," Weekes said.

And nobody challenged Zednik in his charge toward the goal. But Barnaby dismissed the excuses.

"No," he said. "I've been in this league too long. That's a play I can't let happen. ... The first two goals were my fault, no question about it."

Brisebois' goal gave Montreal three in the second period. The Canadiens scored three in the third as well. Petrov got two. The first, at 5:07, made it 4-2 and pretty much took whatever wind was left out of Tampa Bay's sails.

"It has been tough on us not going to the playoffs," Montreal coach Michel Therrien said of the Canadiens' three-season drought, the first time thats has happened since 1919-22. "But they showed a lot of pride in their game."

If there was any good news for Tampa Bay, it was that Bulis, who had to be helped off the ice and didn't return after Dwyer's knee, apparently was not severely hurt. And Dwyer wanted it clear the hit was not intentional.

"I didn't come out of my stance. My knee didn't move either way," he said. "I leaned into the check. It wasn't a vicious hit."

But it was part of a painful loss.

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