Bolts Win the Battle of the Worst in SE Division

By JC De La Torre

It's been two years since the Tampa Bay Lightning won a game in Atlanta. That changed Sunday when the Lightning got two goals from Martin St. Louis and Goalie Mike Smith came within 21 seconds of a shutout in route to a 4-1 thrashing of Atlanta. The victory allowed Tampa Bay to hop the Thrashers and get out of the cellar in the Southeast division.

The Lightning jumped on Atlanta quickly, getting a power play goal from Steve Eminger at the 2:41 mark of the first period to open the scoring. Tampa Bay dominated play in the 1st, out shooting the Thrashers 13-7 during the opening stanza. St. Louis made it 2-0 midway through the second when Vincent Lecavalier fooled Atlanta goalie Kari Lehtonen with a fake shot, passed to St. Louis who deposited it in the opening net. St. Louis made it 3-0 on the power play a minute into the 3rd period and Ryan Malone would add another goal late in the game to make it 4-0. Atlanta's Erik Christensen spoiled Mike Smith's bid for a shutout with 21 seconds left, scoring on a rebound during a scrum in front of the net.

The Lightning notch their 11th victory of the season and will enjoy a four day rest before heading out to the west coast for a four game swing.

Bolts Lose Another 1 Goal Game

By JC De La Torre

The Tampa Bay Lightning's inability to win close games reared its ugly head once again as they fell 4-3 to South East division rivals, the Atlanta Thrashers 4-3 in a wild contest at Phillips Arena. Kari Lehtonen was making his first start in a couple weeks for the Thrashers and gave up goals on the first two shots he faced but saw his team rally in the first period to give him a lead going into the 1st intermission.

Just 0:18 into the hockey game, Slava Kozlov found a lose puck, skated in and put it past Tampa Bay goalie Mike Smith to give the Thrashers a quick 1-0 lead. Tampa Bay would tie it at the 3:54 mark of the first period when Martin St. Louis ended an 0-for-26 power play streak for the Lightning with his eleventh goal of the season. At the 8:15 mark of the first, Adam Hall would get a rare goal to give Tampa Bay a 2-1 lead. Atlanta exploded back late in the 1st period, getting goals from Eric Perrin and Todd White to jump back ahead 3-2.

After a scoreless 2nd period, Atlanta increased their advantage at the 4:06 mark of the third period to make it 4-2. Tampa Bay would make one last rally, as St. Louis got his second of the night on the man advantage to pull the Lightning within 1. Tampa Bay dominated the third period, outshooting the Thrashers 24-6, benefiting from three straight penalties called on Atlanta. The Lightning could only cash in on one of their opportunities and that would be the difference in the game. Lehtonen was sensational in the third, making 23 saves to preserve the Thrasher lead.

Frustration has set in for the Tampa Bay Lightning, who now have lost 17 of their last 19 games.

"It's frustrating," St. Louis told the Associated Press, "I don't think there are enough guys that really want to win."

Bolts Finally Find First Victory for Melrose

By JC De La Torre

After three straight losses in overtime, Tampa Bay finally won one in OT, defeating the Atlanta Thrashers 3-2 to give new Head Coach Barry Melrose his first victory as Lightning head coach and the first coaching win for Melrose since April 6, 1995. Amazingly, despite the slow start, with the win over the Thrashers, the Lightning moved out of the cellar in the Southeast division and are only 2 points out of first place.

The formula appeared similar for Tampa Bay. The Bolts raced to a 2-0 lead going into the third period on goals from Mark Recci and Vinny Prospal, then watched in horror as they blew the two goal lead. At 6:37 of the third period, Colby Armstrong pulled the Thrashers within 1 goal from Todd White. Then with only 0:36 seconds left in the game, Todd White broke Tampa Bay's heart with a goal, tying it at 2 and sending it back to overtime.

The Lightning would get a break in the extra session. Thrashers Center Bryan Little would get called for tripping Marty St. Louis, giving Tampa Bay a 4-3 man advantage. The Bolts would take advantage, as St. Louis snuck around a a defenseman and charge the net drawing the D to him, he then set a nice drop pass to stick of Vincent Lecavalier who blasted it in for the game winning goal.

It was one of the better performances of the season for Tampa Bay, as they outshot the Thrashers, 36-33, and had their lowest penalty minute total of the season, just 6, all of which occurred in the second period.