Lightning win Sunday game started on Friday
All the Tampa Bay Lightning needed to end a 10-game losing streak
against the New Jersey Devils was three days, a lighting problem, a
two-hour game delay, a sidetrip to Philadelphia and half a game
Sunday.
The great goaltending by Mike Smith and the two goals by
Steven Stamkos didn't hurt, either.
Smith made 33 saves and Stamkos scored once Friday and once
Sunday as the Lightning finished off the Devils 4-2 in the
completion of a game that was suspended two nights earlier because
a lighting problem created a safety issue for the players.
"It was a little weird,'' Stamkos said. "We prepared twice
for this game. It was a half-game and a half-game. The travel
wasn't bad. We were in Philly, so it was only a bus ride away. It
was something a lot of guys haven't experienced in a while. It felt
like we were back in junior, but it was worth it.''
Tampa Bay led 3-0 when play was suspended Friday night with
9:12 left in the second period and it only had to kill off the
final 29:12 on Sunday to beat New Jersey for the first time since
the start of the 2007-08 season.
Smith actually had experience playing in a suspended game. He
was the goaltender for Sudbury when its playoff game against
Toronto-St. Michael's was suspended because of a lighting problem.
"We were up 3-1 in the series before the lights went out and
we ended up playing the game the next day and lost in overtime, and
ended up losing the series,'' Smith said. "It was a little better
outcome this time.''
Steve Downie and Brandon Bochenski also scored for Tampa Bay
in the game in which the players agreed not to protest playing
three days in a row. The Devils played in Montreal and the
Lightning were in Philadelphia on Saturday night.
Travis Zajac and Zach Parise scored for New Jersey.
It was strange though, starting with the crowd. About 3,000
of the announced crowd of 15,129 returned to watch the game, with
the number including NHL commissioner Gary Bettman.
"I thought they were alive,'' Devils coach Jacques Lemaire
said of the fans. "I thought they were good.''
The Devils gave the crowd something to cheer about when Zajac
scored with 8:36 left on New Jersey's 33rd shot of the game.
The encouraging cries of support were silenced less than a
minute later when Martin St. Louis found Stamkos all alone in front
for blast that zipped past Yann Danis, who replaced Martin Brodeur
for the final 1 1/2 periods.
"That was a great play by Marty,'' Stamkos said. "He is an
elite player. He beat his man to the puck, picked his pocket and
gave it to me.''
Parise added his 20th of the season in the final minute.
The Devils said the lighting problem was caused when a
circuit breaker went down and it knocked out the computer that
operated the lights in the Devils' defensive zone.
Play was delayed almost 2 hours while workmen at the
3-year-old arena tried to fix the problem. The NHL eventually
ordered the game suspended around 10 p.m. and the next day ordered
the game to resume Sunday at 6 p.m.
Before play started with a faceoff in front of the Lightning
bench, Arlette sang the national anthem. She also sang it Friday
night.
"Everything about this situation was odd, from Friday sitting
around here waiting to see what would happen, to playing a game
when you're worried about something the night before,'' Devils
captain Jamie Langenbrunner said. "Under the circumstances, we
handled it well. We played well all weekend. Now we move forward.''
Zajac said the final 9:12 of the second period went quickly.
The final 29:12 only took 67 minutes to play.
"It's a little weird when you start a faceoff in the neutral
zone and then you feel like you're getting going and the period is
over,'' Zajac said. "I think going into it we felt we had a chance
to come back and make it interesting. We skated well, made some
plays, but it just didn't happen for us.''
The Devils, who were coming off a 2-1 overtime win in
Montreal, had a 35-14 shot advantage in the game, but Smith was
spectacular. He stopped 20 shots on Friday and he was just as good
Sunday.
"I felt a little more tired today,'' said Smith, who did not
play in the Lightning's 4-1 loss in Philadelphia on Saturday night.
"I ended up making some saves early and coming out with the win. It
was two points we needed.''
The Lightning only had seven shots in the opening 30 minutes
but three got behind Brodeur, with the first two goals coming on
the power play.
Downie deflected a point shot by Kurtis Foster past Brodeur
at 6:58 of the opening period, and Tampa Bay got its other two
goals in the second period before the lights dimmed and both were a
little lucky.
Bochenski, who was recalled from Norfolk of the AHL on Jan.
2, scored on a quick shot from right in front after Rob
Niederrmayer deflected Stamkos' pass right to him at 5:13 on
another power play.
Stamkos scored a little less than 5 minutes later. Stamkos
pushed a pass to St. Louis and then took a return pass for a shot
into a wide-open net.
