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Another Whiteout: Bolts' Skid Reaches 6

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By ERIK ERLENDSSON, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 30, 2007

Updated: 11/30/2007 12:22 am

DETROIT - Perhaps instead of a change to the NHL schedule format, the Lightning should lobby the league's board of governors to wear their dark uniforms for every game. The road whites just don't seem to be working.

Tampa Bay dropped its league-high 10th road game of the season Thursday, falling to Detroit 4-2 at Joe Louis Arena. The loss was the fifth consecutive for the Lightning - their second five-game losing streak this season - and keeps Tampa Bay winless in the past six (0-5-1).

The loss ensured the Lightning of holding down the 14th spot in the Eastern Conference all alone, four points ahead of Washington, which has a league-worst 18 points.
Marc Denis made his third start of the season in goal, stopping 35 shots for Tampa Bay, which fell to 2-10-1 on the road this season and is winless in its past four away from home. Brad Richards and Mathieu Darche scored for Tampa Bay while the league's leading scorer, center Vinny Lecavalier, was kept off the scoresheet in consecutive games for the first time this season.
Chris Osgood made 21 saves to improve to 16-0 lifetime against the Lightning, who put in a better effort than the previous night in Chicago where Tampa Bay never appeared to be in the game. On Thursday, the Lightning had a chance to make the game 3-2 late in the second period but failed to convert on the power play.

"That would have made it interesting," Lightning coach John Tortorella said.

Instead, it was another slow start that put Tampa Bay in a hole it couldn't climb out of - down by two after the opening period. The Lightning were outshot 17-1 in the first, with Marty St. Louis registering the only shot on goal of the five attempted (three were blocked and one missed). It's the ninth time the Lightning have registered only one shot on goal in a period, the first since Dec. 21, 2001, in a 4-3 victory against St. Louis. The Lightning have twice been held without a shot in a period, both times during the 1999-2000 season less than two weeks apart.

Once Tampa Bay started to maintain some puck possession, it began to generate some chances and get the puck into the Detroit zone.

"In the second period at least we started to play with a little bit more confidence, a little bit more jam, and it showed," left wing Vinny Prospal said. "We ended up with some good opportunities. At least the positive that we can take out of this game is that we didn't give up or finish the game like we did in Chicago."

But a better effort than in Wednesday's 5-1 loss is small credit to take for a team in the midst of a second six-game winless streak in the first 25 games of the season, including a woeful road record.

"It's a tough go of it right now," St. Louis said. "We've gone through this before and we've come out stronger. We just can't feel sorry for ourselves because nobody does. If you start to feel sorry for too long, the streak just gets longer.

"We just have to grab the bull by the horns and push yourself and ask yourself what you are going to do to help the team."

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

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