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Lightning attack on the skids

Tampa Bay fails to take enough shots, and the Flyers work the rebounds to win.

[Times photo: Dirk Shadd] Lightning right wing Jimmie Olvestad, left, collides into the boards with the Flyers' Eric Desjardins. It was Olvestad's first game in November.

By KEVIN KELLY

© St. Petersburg Times,
published November 9, 2001

TAMPA -- It was the kind of fortune that can end the despair of a befuddled hockey team.

Pavel Kubina's slap shot in the third period of Thursday's game against the Flyers nicked a defender's stick on its wobbly way toward one of the hottest goaltenders in the NHL.

Brian Boucher caught the redirected shot for an eye blink before it rolled off Boucher's glove and across the goal line for Tampa Bay's first goal in 134 minutes.

"I thought we were going to score two more after that," Tampa Bay coach John Tortorella said. "That's what happens in those types of situations."

It didn't happen.

Despite having two power plays in the final 11 minutes of a 2-1 loss before an announced 17,217 at the Ice Palace, the Lightning failed to score and extended its losing streak to six. Tampa Bay, which played without leading scorer Martin St. Louis, has three goals in its past four games.

"We've been struggling offensively for a couple of games," Kubina said. "We've got to start shooting the puck from everywhere. Maybe we'll get a break, you know?"

Boucher faced 23 shots. Lightning goalie Nikolai Khabibulin sparkled again with little defensive help. It marked the sixth time this season that Khabibulin has faced 35 or more shots. He stopped 33.

"He was the best player we had," Tortorella said. "He gave us a chance. But we weren't good defensively, and I don't think in the first two periods we were strong on the puck offensively."

The Lightning must get more from its key forwards. Vincent Lecavalier has one goal in 13 games. Dave Andreychuk hasn't scored in eight games, Fredrik Modin in six, Ben Clymer and Vinny Prospal in five, Brad Richards in four.

"It's a matter of time," Richards said, "if everybody's doing the right thing."

The Flyers displayed how doing the right things pays off.

Philadelphia played physical and attacked the Lightning net, scoring its goals on sheer persistence.

"For some guys," Tortorella said, "I think it's a matter of effort."

Though the Lightning registered four of the first five shots, the Flyers dictated the tempo and intensity thereafter.

Philadelphia then outshot the Lightning 10-2 by screening Khabibulin and sending rebounds back on goal. Four of those 10 shots came in a rapid-fire succession that resulted in left wing Ruslan Fedotenko scoring 12:21 into the period.

It was Fedotenko's third goal in five games against the Lightning.

The Flyers made it 2-0 with 9:01 remaining in the second period thanks to another rebound off Khabibulin and lax play on defense.

Tampa Bay right wing Jimmie Olvestad, playing his first game since Oct. 30, got caught with his back to Flyers forward Tomas Divisek. Divisek, who gathered the puck after a shot by Todd Fedoruk, wristed a shot through Olvestad's legs that beat Khabibulin on the glove side for his first goal of the season.

"We stuck to the game plan and played with patience," Flyers coach Bill Barber said. "They did all the right things you could ask of them."

Tampa Bay managed 14 shots in the first two periods.

The eighth shot was an inch from tying the score with less than 10 seconds remaining in the first period. Boucher stopped a wrist shot by Modin, but the puck glided between his legs toward the goal line. Flyers defenseman Dan McGillis rescued the puck before it crossed the line and flipped it away.

Kubina's goal was his first of the season and the Lightning's first since Lecavalier scored in the second period against Pittsburgh on Saturday.

"We're pros. We have to stay together," Tortorella said. "If you start breaking apart at this point in time, we have major problems. ... I'm not worried about that. We've just got to try to solve some of our problems."

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