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Stars have successful hunt

Dallas preys on Tampa Bay's defensive problems to score five goals in the second period.

By DAMIAN CRISTODERO

© St. Petersburg Times, published November 21, 2000

[AP photo] Tampa Bay Lightning's Petr Svoboda, left, trips up Dallas Stars center Roman Lyashenko during the third period in Dallas.

DALLAS -- Steal a point. Maybe get a victory.

The Lightning had high hopes heading into Monday night's game against the Stars. What it got was a dose of reality as Dallas dominated Tampa Bay 6-2 at Reunion Arena.

The loss ends the Lightning's three-game road trip at 1-1-1 and makes it 4-2-1 in its past seven games. That's not horrible, except the Stars exposed a weakness Tampa Bay appeared to have licked -- down-low defense.

The Lightning decided it wasn't going to cover the slot in the second period, and Dallas scored five goals. Three came in 2 minutes, 52 seconds, and the last four came on consecutive shots.

"This team is one of the top beasts in the jungle," Lightning goalie Kevin Weekes said. "They know what their prey is and how to catch it. They smelled fear in the second period and went after it."

Weekes, making his 12th consecutive start, was pulled after the period for Dan Cloutier, who hadn't played since Oct. 21 because of tendinitis in his left biceps.

Weekes continued his stunning play in the game's first 30 minutes. That Tampa Bay wasn't down by five after the first period was solely because of him. But the magic slipped away in the second period as his help diminished.

The Stars were all over Tampa Bay at the start, keeping the Lightning bottled up in its zone and eventually spending 9:46 there.

The Stars took the game to another level after the first seven minutes.

Brett Hull hit the starter at 7:23 when he took a clean faceoff win by Mike Modano and drilled a shot into Weekes' chest. Off the next faceoff, Modano got two in-close shots that Weekes saved. A point-blank shot by Hull also was stopped.

The Stars buzzed, and the Lightning held on, literally, as left wing Fredrik Modin was called for interference at 8:08.

After Stars defenseman Sergei Zubov clanked a shot off the post, the Lightning played its best sequence of the game to kill off the penalty. Right wing Mike Johnson picked up a loose puck in the neutral zone and broke in alone on goaltender Marty Turco. Johnson deked right, but Turco came up big at the 9-minute mark.

It was Tampa Bay's first shot after 10 for the Stars, who eventually outshot the Lightning 11-2 in the period.

The flood gates finally opened in the second period as the Stars took a 5-1 lead.

Tampa Bay also played a defenseman short. Jassen Cullimore got 17 minutes in penalties, including a 10-minute misconduct, with 16:50 left in the period for fighting with Gerald Diduck, who had been whistled for tripping defenseman Cory Sarich.

The Stars opened the scoring 6:41 in on a four-on-four situation when Brad Lukowich got his first goal of the season off a nice feed into the slot by Modano. Weekes got a piece of the puck, but it bounced past him and trickled into the net.

When Modano was called for interference at 7:03, the Lightning eventually had a five-on-three for 16 seconds. With one second left in the advantage, defenseman Pavel Kubina blew one past Turco to the top corner to make it 1-1 at 7:28.

Then it got ugly. "We gave them more than just room," Lightning center Ryan Johnson said. "We gave them the whole sheet of ice. We sat back and let them take it to us."

Roman Lyashenko scored at 12:21 when he stood unmolested in the slot and converted a nice backhand feed from Darryl Sydor.

Mike Keane made it 3-1 at 13:55 when he was left alone to Weekes' right and tipped Kirk Muller's feed between Weekes' legs.

It was 4-1 at 15:13 when Modano scored from Weekes' right as the slot was free and Dallas passed at will.

The finishing touch came with 45.5 seconds left when Hull scored his 12th goal of the season, and fourth in four games, on the power play.

Tampa Bay's Brad Richards scored a power-play goal with 1:39 left.

Dallas got a goal from Joe Nieuwendyk on a rebound at the buzzer.

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