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Penalty killing, that is. The Lightning is fifth in the league on the road at 89.1 percent.
By JOANNE KORTH
© St. Petersburg Times, published December 1, 2001
To the Tampa Bay penalty killers, it was a sweet sound.
Carolina had failed to score in its third power-play chance of the first period Sunday when disgruntled Hurricanes fans let the home team know how they felt.
Booo!
"Every visiting team loves that," Lightning forward Tim Taylor said. "You know you're playing well on the road when the home team is getting booed, and that's usually the result of penalty killing."
Going into Friday's games, the Lightning penalty kill ranked seventh in the league at 87.5 percent. In opponents' arenas, where Tampa Bay will play eight of its next nine games starting tonight at Philadelphia, the percentage climbs to 89.1, fifth-best.
"If your power play isn't working, you hear it all the time, "Shoot, shoot, shoot,' and "boo, boo, boo,' " coach John Tortorella said. "As professionals, we try to block it all out, but it can play with you a little bit. We try to be aggressive with our penalty kill, use it to change momentum."
The ultimate in team effort, penalty killing also is a mind-set. The Lightning's approach this season is to keep teams from setting up the power play by battling for every puck, from the defensemen down low to the forwards at the blue line.
"The key issue for all penalty-killing units is to play with authority and not just sit back and be passive," said assistant Craig Ramsey, who coaches special teams. "We're making some good rotation plays, supporting each other, winning battles and blocking shots. But you can never let up. You have to sacrifice yourself and work hard."
Penalty killing starts with great goaltending, which Nikolai Khabibulin and Kevin Weekes provide. But the skaters on the unit, many of whom are new to the team this season, are getting comfortable with each other and gaining confidence.
Among those who take turns in short-handed situations are forwards Taylor, Jimmie Olvestad, Juha Ylonen, Martin St. Louis, Dave Andreychuk and Ben Clymer. Key defenders are Stan Neckar, Pavel Kubina and Nolan Pratt.
Since giving up two power-play goals Oct. 11 at San Jose, the first road game of the season, the Lightning has killed 45 of 49 penalties on the road. It is perfect in 13 chances the past three games, including 9-for-9 in a victory at Carolina.
Against the Hurricanes, Tampa Bay took the home team's humiliation a step further by scoring two short-handed goals on the same penalty for a 2-0 lead. Both were hustle plays: Olvestad set up Kubina by carrying the puck past a defender rather than ice it; Taylor deflected a pass with his stick, then beat goaltender Arturs Irbe to the loose puck.
"That's a bonus," Ylonen said. "The other team tries to hold the blue line as long as possible, and if you have good speed you can get some two-on-one chances. But you don't go out there thinking to score a goal; that's a bonus."
Effective penalty killing quickly turns a negative into a positive. The edge gained transfers into full-strength play, while failed power plays discourage teams and enrage fans.
"It's a tremendous lift for your team to get through a tough situation and really aggravate the crowd," Ramsey said. "There really is nothing better than hearing the boos when they're not directed at you."