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Khabibulin shuts downoft-shooting Blue Jackets

By DAMIAN CRISTODERO

© St. Petersburg Times,
published September 20, 2001

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Nikolai Khabibulin made a good start and a better finish Wednesday night.

The Lightning goaltender played the entire game against the Blue Jackets and earned a 2-0 preseason victory before 3,462 at the War Memorial at OnCenter.

Khabibulin made 29 saves, some brilliant, and goals by Vinny Prospal and Dave Andreychuk stood up.

"I felt all right," Khabibulin said. "I still need to play a couple more games to feel a lot better. But I feel well for this time of year. I think it's coming, I just have to work on a few more things."

Good thing Khabibulin was sharp. After a first period in which the Lightning outshot the Blue Jackets 12-2, Tampa Bay, with much of its offensive firepower taking the night off, mustered just eight more and was outshot 29-20.

"I don't think we played that well tonight, but we found a way to win and that's how teams win 40 games," coach John Tortorella said.

The Lightning (1-0-1) dominated the first period and gained a 1-0 lead on Prospal's second goal of the preseason.

The rink tilted in the second period as Columbus (1-1) outshot Tampa Bay 16-3. But the Lightning took a 2-0 lead thanks to a terrible play by Columbus goaltender Pascal LeClair, the eighth overall pick of the June draft who saw his first NHL action, and stellar play by Khabibulin.

Pascal's blunder came at 13:44. Fielding the puck in the middle of a faceoff circle, Pascal tried to pass into the neutral zone. But the puck went right to Andreychuk, who scored the short-handed goal from just beyond the blue line past the diving goaltender.

Khabibulin's brightest moment: a stick save from in close on Serge Aubin and a dive across the crease to again stop Aubin, who picked up the rebound and swung around the net.

"He kept his focus," Tortorella said. "The most encouraging thing is he looks solid in everything he's doing."

OFF THE BENCH: For the second straight game, Tortorella watched from the press box and left the bench duties to associate coach Craig Ramsay and goaltenders coach Jeff Reese.

Tortorella said the view helps him better evaluate players without worrying about managing the game.

"It's a whole different view from up there to see what lines look like," he said. "It's a better opportunity to get away from the on-ice action and focus on the team itself."

CUTDOWN DAY: Tortorella said the Lightning today will cut its 48-player camp to 24 or 25. The team must be down to 23 by Oct. 3.

CALLING ALL COACHES: All regional USA Hockey coaches are invited to the second annual Hockey Coaching Symposium at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 27 at the Ice Palace. The $10 cost, which includes food and beverages, will go to the Lightning Foundation's youth hockey scholarship fund. Call Kristy Bauer at (813) 301-6505 for information.

ODDS AND ENDS: Defenseman Andrei Zyuzin left the game early in the third period with a bruised left knee. ... Forwards Evgeni Artukhin, Tim Taylor, Brad Richards, Fredrik Modin, Martin St. Louis and Gordie Dwyer, and defensemen Grant Ledyard, Mathieu Biron and Henrik Bergfors were scratched.

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