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Better Effort Can't Get Bolts A Win

Jay Conner/Tribune photo

The Flyers' Kimmo Timonen celebrates a third-period goal in Philadephia's 4-2 win over the Lightning.

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By ERIK ERLENDSSON, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 30, 2007

Updated: 12/30/2007 12:11 am

TAMPA - After looking lifeless in recent days, the Lightning showed they are alive and kicking. And for the better part of two periods Saturday, they had a strong pulse that was pumping energy into a team desperate for a boost.

But Philadelphia quickly kicked Tampa Bay in the gut and knocked the wind right out of the Lightning, handing them a 4-2 loss, Tampa Bay's fourth consecutive setback and sixth in the past seven games.

After outshooting, outplaying and outhustling the Flyers for the better part of the first two periods - Tampa Bay held Philadelphia to one shot during a 24-minute, 44-second stretch between the first and second periods - a Mike Knuble power-play goal with 55.8 seconds left in the second broke a 1-1 tie.

The Flyers made it 3-1 only 31 seconds into the third period on a delayed penalty call and tacked on another at 4:17 for a three-goal lead.

The latest setback was enough to force the players to shut the doors to their locker room for a 38-minute meeting after the game in an effort to try to address the issue.

"We just talked about what is going on right now," alternate captain Brad Richards said. "It's tough, so we're trying to help each other and try to figure some things out."

With the sale of the franchise still up in the air and the current owners not willing to add additional salary to the payroll, it means that any answers are going to have to come from within the locker room walls. The players on the ice and in the locker room today almost certainly will compose what the team will look like when the trade deadline approaches in February.

"We've got nothing coming this way, nothing," Lightning coach John Tortorella said. "That's our way of life right now. We have talked about this as a group, don't hold your hand out looking for help. A lot of teams, a lot of situations, even in this organization as long as I've been here, you're always looking for help. There's no help coming. There's no help down in the minors, there's no help in signing; we have to figure it out. It's our mess and we are the ones who are going to have to figure things out."

Lightning general manager Jay Feaster said after the game he is in constant discussions with teams but with his hands tied, he said he's not sure there's a deal out there to be made that would help right now.

"I think the answers for right now have to come from within," he said. "I think until we get a resolution on the sale situation, the one thing we're not going to do, we're not going to move the big three Vinny Lecavalier, Marty St. Louis and Richards. Right now that's something that's just a non-starter, that's not going to happen.

"Could we go out and move draft picks? Well as you know, everyone is always looking for a first-round draft pick. For a team that's six games under .500 right now and 15th in the East, this isn't the time to be dealing first-round draft picks.

"There may be minor things here and there on the edges but things aren't going to happen in any sort of meaningful way until the sale situation is resolved. We're making phone calls, watching waivers, but no one is lining up to help right now. Nobody is looking to give us a deal that doesn't cost us an asset and you know, makes us say, 'Let's jump on that one.'"

So for the time being Tampa Bay is going to have to find a way to get positive results before the season gets away, if it hasn't already - the team sits six games under .500 with the fewest points in the Eastern Conference.

And it doesn't matter if the Lightning put forth the showing they did for the first 39 minutes Saturday when they looked like a team capable of breaking out of its funk.

"Yeah, we did some good things, but ... it's a loss," Tortorella said. "In the paper today in the loss column; they don't talk about all those things, it's a checkmark in the loss column."

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

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