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Tampa Bay doesn't quit this time, but most of the breaks seem to go to the Sharks.
By DAMIAN CRISTODERO
© St. Petersburg Times, published October 12, 2001
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- You can't criticize the effort.
The Lightning grinded, scrapped and definitely didn't quit. The Sharks just had too many weapons Thursday night and used some of their most potent to earn a 4-3 victory in front of 16,591 at the Compaq Center.
It was a notable turnaround from Sunday's debacle against the Panthers in which Tampa Bay laid down without a fight. Many times Thursday the Lightning took the fight to the Sharks, and had a few bounces gone the team's way things could have been different.
But trouble with the penalty kill continued as San Jose went 2-for-6 on the power play after going 1-for-14 in its first two games. Vincent Damphousse had two goals for the Sharks, including the winner, an empty-netter with 1:20 remaining that made it 4-2.
Just to make things interesting, Fredrik Modin scored for the Lightning with 1:04 remaining.
Teemu Selanne's first goal of the season broke a tie at 2 with 1:05 gone in the third period.
Evgeni Nabokov made 24 saves as the Sharks outshot the Lightning 38-27 with most of that difference coming in the final 25 minutes as they overcame a 2-1 deficit.
Nikolai Khabibulin made 34 saves for the Lightning, and Brad Richards and Martin St. Louis scored. Vinny Lecavalier, in his first game since signing his new contract, had an assist.
"We showed improvement compared to the other game, but it's still not good enough," Khabibulin said. "We got zero points tonight. We've got to learn to play with the lead and stay patient."
A spirited first period ended with the Sharks leading 1-0 and 12-10 in shots.
Tampa Bay's first chance came 5:21 into the period, when defenseman Andrei Zyuzin pinched, went behind the net and fed in front to Juha Ylonen, who was stopped by Nabokov.
Khabibulin did his part a little more than a minute later with a huge save on Niklas Sundstrom, who took a feed in the slot from Alexander Korolyuk.
The Sharks finally broke through at 7:07. With Modin in the penalty box for high sticking, Damphousse scored from the slot in front of a stationary Jimmie Olvestad off a pass from Selanne, who charged down the right side and swung behind the Lightning net.
The Lightning turned it up a notch and dominated play for almost four minutes.
Matthew Barnaby is probably still kicking himself about his missed chance 30 seconds later. After getting a beautiful pass from Dave Andreychuk, Barnaby went for the wraparound and had Nabokov down and out of position. But Barnaby lost the puck a fraction too soon and sent it through the crease.
A minute later Modin bounced a shot off the post after good work digging in the corner.
The Lightning tied it at 1:34 of the second period when Richards came out of the penalty box, took a pass from Modin and fired past Nabokov.
It was Tampa Bay's first goal in 93:55 going back to Richards' goal at 7:39 of the second period of the opener against the Islanders.
The Lightning took a 2-1 lead on St. Louis' power-play goal at 8:03 in front of the net off a brilliant pass from Andreychuk, who got the puck on a nice backhand pass from Lecavalier.
Credit, however, must go to the line of Ylonen, Ben Clymer and Tim Taylor, whose grinding against the boards forced San Jose's Scott Hannan into a holding penalty.
Two Lightning penalties changed the momentum.
First Brian Holzinger was called for a questionable slashing penalty. Referee Scott Zelkin said Holzinger slashed the arm of a Sharks player, but the stick on stick contact was audible in the pressbox.
While Tampa Bay tried to kill that penalty in the face of crushing pressure from San Jose, Ylonen was called for high-sticking. With the extra skater on for Nabokov on the delayed call, Owen Nolan tipped in a Gary Suter slap shot from the high slot at 17:51 to tie the game at 2.
Second period -- 2, Tampa Bay, Richards 2 (Modin, Sarich), 1:35. 3, Tampa Bay, St. Louis 1 (Andreychuk, Lecavalier), 8:03 (pp). 4, San Jose, Nolan 1 (Suter, Jillson), 17:51 (pp). Penalties -- Hannan, SJ (holding), 7:36; Neckar, TB (holding), 10:41; Holzinger, TB (slashing), 16:12; Ylonen, TB (high-sticking), 17:51
Third period -- 5, San Jose, Selanne 1 (Ragnarsson, Marleau), 1:05. 6, San Jose, Damphousse 2 (Nolan), 18:40 (en). 7, Tampa Bay, Modin 1 (Prospal, St. Louis), 18:56. Penalties -- Smith, SJ (high-sticking), 1:36; Suter, SJ (interference), 11:50.
Shots on goal -- Tampa Bay 10-7-10--27. San Jose 12-13-13--38. Power-play opportunities -- Tampa Bay 1 of 3; San Jose 2 of 6. Goalies -- Tampa Bay, Khabibulin 0-3-0 (37 shots-34 saves). San Jose, Nabokov 1-0-1 (24-27 Attendance -- 16,591 (17,496). Referees --Bill McCreary, Scott Zelkin. Linesmen -- Brad Lazarowich, Mark Wheler.
Tampa Bay 0 2 1--3
San Jose 1 1 2--4