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BOX SCORE
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) – Kevin Weekes is trying to start a goaltender
controversy in Tampa. The Pittsburgh Penguins have one, too, only
it's not by choice.
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| Weekes |
Tampa Bay scored twice short-handed and Weekes, unhappy with the
decision to give Nikolai Khabibulin a big contract, allowed only
Mario Lemieux's goal as the Lightning beat the Penguins 5-1
Saturday night.
Weekes, playing his best hockey since the Lightning traded for
Khabibulin, stopped 25 of 26 shots to finish a 5-0-0-1 home stand
that ties as the most successful in Lightning history.
"I think it's really just confidence to be honest with you,"
said Weekes, who allowed only 10 goals in the six games -- five in
one game. "We're all committed to doing everything to be
successful. We're getting some tangible results, and that allows us
to feel good about ourselves."
Weekes' strong effort came only a few hours after Khabibulin
signed a four-year contract and said he expects to be the starting
goalie after working out for 10 days or so.
"I think that's going to be good for us, especially next year,
having two of the top goaltenders in the league," Pavel Kubina said. "We'll see what's going to happen next."
The Penguins' power play -- the sixth-best in the NHL -- was a
disaster, going 0-for-8, including a 3:10 man-advantage in the
third period, and twice allowed goals after breakdowns.
"We forgot the basic thing, and that is defense is first,"
Pittsburgh coach Ivan Hlinka said. "We made stupid mistakes."
Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis had two goals each, and
the Lightning scored twice short-handed in the same game for only
the third time in franchise history. St. Louis scored short-handed
in the first period and on a power play in the third.
It was the second time in four days the Penguins lost to a lower-tier team; they lost 3-1 at home Wednesday to the Islanders.
"We can't keep going like this," defenseman Marc Bergevin said. "We were playing well, and all of a sudden it's 5-1.
"We need to play with a sense of urgency, of desperation. We need to
come together and, right now, we're not coming together."
Pittsburgh is the NHL's best third-period team with 95 goals,
but was outscored 3-0 in the final period as St. Louis got his 17th
and Lecavalier got his 20th in the final 3:01.
Shortly after Lemieux scored his third goal in two nights 48
seconds into the second period to cut the Lightning lead to 2-1,
Pittsburgh had the next five power plays, but couldn't score on any
of them.
The Penguins, cheered on by thousands of jersey-wearing fans who
sometimes drowned out the Tampa Bay rooters in the crowd of 20,835,
seemed to get a big break when Andrei Zyuzin drew a four-minute
high-sticking penalty at 8:33 of the third. The Lightning led 2-1
at the time.
But not only could Pittsburgh not score the tying goal, the
Lightning got the clincher when Kubina's shot from the edge of the
right circle sailed by rookie goalie Johan Hedberg inside the far
post at 6:06.
The Lightning, 6-1-0-1 in their last eight games but still only
a loss away from playoff elimination, had taken a 2-0 lead in the
first period following similar Penguins mistakes.
Lecavalier, scoreless for four games, scored on a wide-open
10-foot shot at 11:49. Defenseman Darius Kasparaitis slipped behind
the net and gave up the puck to Ryan Johnson, who quickly fed
Lecavalier in the slot.
St. Louis scored at 19:02, stealing the puck from Alexei Kovalev and sliding his own rebound past Hedberg, who was surprisingly
named the starter a few hours before the game.
Hlinka said after a 6-3 victory Friday at Florida that Jean-Sebastien Aubin would start, only to change his mind before
the pregame skate. The Penguins acquired Hedberg, a 27-year-old
career minor leaguer, from San Jose at the trading deadline.
"I had a second chance and I didn't make the most of it," said
Hedberg, who made 44 saves in the NHL debut Friday.
Hlinka didn't say if Hedberg or Aubin would start Tuesday at home against Boston.
"It's too soon for me to say, after a game like that," Hlinka
said.
Game notes
The only other time Tampa Bay accumulated 11 points in a
homestand was from Feb. 15-25, 1997, not long before Lemieux last
played at the Ice Palace. ... The crowd was a Tampa Bay season
high. ... Lemieux has 31 goals in 35 games. ... Tampa Bay is 1-1-1
against Pittsburgh.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Pittsburgh Clubhouse
Tampa Bay Clubhouse
Khabibulin, Tampa Bay reach four-year, $15M deal
RECAPS
Colorado 5
Detroit 3
Los Angeles 1
San Jose 0
Philadelphia 2
NY Rangers 1
Toronto 5
Florida 3
Boston 3
Montreal 2
Buffalo 3
Washington 2
NY Islanders 3
Columbus 3
Tampa Bay 5
Pittsburgh 1
Nashville 4
Phoenix 1
St. Louis 2
Calgary 2
New Jersey 6
Edmonton 5
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