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Weekes is humble about win

© St. Petersburg Times,
published October 15, 2001

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Kevin Weekes tried to shrug it off. Tried to minimize what his effort Saturday night have meant to an outplayed -- but not outhustled -- Lightning team trying to avoid the worst start in franchise history.

"Just another day at the office," he said.

The goaltender, making his first start of the season, brought the heat, stopping 31 shots as Tampa Bay stole a 1-0 victory from the Kings at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Vinny Prospal scored the winner 38 seconds into the third period with assists from Fredrik Modin and Martin St. Louis, who started the play by stealing the puck from Ian Laperriere.

It was Tampa Bay's first win after three losses and kept it from 0-4, a record no Lightning team has seen.

Weekes stopped three breakaways (all of which came during dreadful Lightning power plays) and made a highlight kick save of a Glen Murray one-timer from in front of the net 6:58 into the third.

"I don't see it as doing something heroic or superhuman," Weekes said Sunday before Tampa Bay's game against the Mighty Ducks at Arrowhead Pond. "I'm just doing my job. And I'm not going to let you put it all on me. I got a lot of help from the defense. I give them tons of credit. We had 24 blocked shots. That's remarkable."

And notable because of the way the defense had played previously and because coach John Tortorella had publicly challenged it to tighten its game.

Grant Ledyard was a force, blocking six shots. Jassen Cullimore blocked five. Andrei Zyuzin, who came into the game minus-4, blocked three. And Pavel Kubina played an ironman 27:25 on 32 shifts and was plus-1. Tampa Bay also was 6-for-6 on the penalty kill.

"We just didn't want to accept the way we played," Cullimore said. "For us, there's such a small margin between winning and losing. We have to come ready to sacrifice ourselves every night."

"It's a game we don't win too often, when the other team outplays you for parts of the game," Tortorella said. "There was a lot of desperation out there. And I think they fed off Weekes a little bit."

But Weekes, who got his seventh shutout, wanted none of it.

"You always have opportunities to win by being committed to defense," he said. "Every time you have a commitment to defense, you never know what can happen."

PROBLEMS: The power play was a pathetic 0-for-6 with one shot on goal, and allowed breakaways by Murray, Kelly Buchberger and Ziggy Palffy that Weekes stopped. ... Tampa Bay was outshot 31-19 and spent just 21:02 in the Kings' zone.

WHAT OF ALEXEEV?: Right wing Nikita Alexeev played in just his second game against the Ducks. That begs the question: Is the 19-year-old rookie better off playing part time with the Lightning or full time with the AHL's Springfield Falcons?

"It's important; you can't leave a kid out like that for too long," the coach said. "He hasn't done anything wrong. It's just the makeup of our team has hurt him. He has to get some ice time."

"We have no plans to send him anywhere," assistant general manager Jay Feaster said. "None whatsoever."

ODDS AND ENDS: Weekes' shutout was the first by a Lightning goalie in a season debut. ... The team recalled defenseman Mathieu Biron from Springfield and played him against the Ducks. ... Defenseman Cory Sarich (bruised right knee) did not play Sunday and is day to day. ... Center Brian Holzinger and forward Glen Metropolit were healthy scratches.

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