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Lightning Know Slump Must End

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By ERIK ERLENDSSON, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 1, 2007

TAMPA - In what can easily be described as a Jekyll and Hyde performance as we approach one-third of the way into the season, the Lightning are in desperate need of Dr. Jekyll showing up tonight.

They need somebody to whip up some kind of potion to bring their split personalities together before the team faces the reality of getting split up.

Tampa Bay opens a four-game home- stand tonight against Boston in hopes of ending six-game winless (0-5-1) and five-game losing streaks. It is the second time in the past month the Lightning have gone six games without registering a victory; both winless streaks have been sandwiched around a five-game winning streak.

Through 25 games, the Lightning are 10-13-2 for 22 points, the team's worst start after 25 games since 2001-02 - the last time Tampa Bay missed the playoffs - when they also had 22 points through 25 games.

And when it comes to trying to determine what factors have gone wrong, there really isn't one thing more wrong than another. That can only mean it's a combination of everything, whether it's team effort, goaltending, defensive positioning or costly errors.

Added together, it means Tampa Bay is a couple more losses from hitting the bottom of the league, a place it hasn't been familiar with since the early days of the Rick Dudley era when he took over a team in disarray.

This team, however, has too much talent to even be mentioned in the same breath as those teams from the late 1990s and early 2000s. And if things don't start moving in a positive direction soon, it may mean changes, just as nearly happened last year before the threat of a roster dismantle by ownership fueled a second-half surge.

"Twice already this season we have lost six in a row, so we have to figure something out," center Brad Richards said.

"I know it's in this room. I've seen it get done where we are so good we have the puck the whole game, and then there's some games like Thursday in Detroit where we just don't want it."

Getting back on home ice, where Tampa Bay owns an 8-3-1 record and ranks in the top 10 in power play and penalty kill, is a good place for them to try to get back on the winning side of the score- sheet. And with the calendar turning from November to December, it also offers the opportunity to turn the page on the team's worst November since going 2-8-1 in 1998.

With 10 of the 14 games this month on home ice, this could be a make-or-break month.

"For some reason, we are a different team; we play with some arrogance at least at home," Richards said. "This whole month, it's very important.

"I don't want to get ahead of myself, but the way the schedule sets up it's a chance for us to get back above water here."

Coach John Tortorella sees the window of opportunity, as well, although with a cautious approach.

"We have to start a new month here, with a pretty good month of home games, and we just need to take it day-by-day here to rehabilitate ourselves," he said. "That's all you can do. There's no sense in being negative. We are just going to keep it in the room and try to rehabilitate ourselves.

"And it doesn't matter home or away, we need to try to wipe this clear here as far as the mind-set that we are in right now. We have to try to get some sort of fresh approach, and when you start a new month, that's how we want to approach it. Not look ahead, but take things day-by-day."

And in searching for the silver lining in all this, as close as the Lightning sit to being in the basement - four points ahead of Washington entering Friday - they are four points out of a playoff spot and within striking distance of division-leader Carolina.

"You look around the league, there are a lot of teams around that water mark and by no means are we out of anything," Tortorella said.

"But we have to try to get ourselves better one day at a time."

Reporter Erik Erlendsson can be reached at (813) 259-7835 or eerlendsson@tampatrib.com.

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