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Lightning Ready To Pick Up Pace

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By ERIK ERLENDSSON, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 24, 2007

Updated: 10/23/2007 11:55 pm

WASHINGTON - Three weeks into the marathon NHL season and Tampa Bay has yet to get its engine revved up to speed and motoring along at a steady clip.

Entering tonight's division matchup against the Capitals, the Lightning have played the fewest games (six) in the league. While other teams have gotten into the flow of the season, Tampa Bay has been more like an old Ford Model-T that required a couple of turns of the hand crank to get the motor running.

And even before things would get rolling along, the engine might put up a fight with a couple of sputters before the throttle could be fully opened up.

Already on three occasions this season the Lightning have gone three or more days between games, and they have played no more than two games in a calendar week. For the remainder of the season, Tampa Bay will have only two other weeks in which it plays fewer than three games between Sunday and Saturday - the weeks of Nov. 11-17 and Jan. 20-26, which is the week leading up to the All-Star Game in Atlanta.

With a 4-2 record and eight of a possible 12 points, Tampa Bay's start has been good, but it has made the effort of building momentum from game to game a difficult task.

'We want to get our confidence back up to where it was at the beginning of the season and get on a roll, snowball with it,' defenseman Paul Ranger said after Saturday's 6-2 win against Atlanta.

With the hiccups in the schedule, however, getting into a game flow has been tough. So the coaching staff has done what it can during practices to keep things up-tempo while at the same time working on things that need correcting - not only during time on the ice but also in lengthy video sessions.

'Whatever the schedule presents you, you need to do just what you need to do in that time,' Lightning coach John Tortorella said. 'We have really concentrated on the in-between days doing a lot of tape work on our team concept, on special teams, and I think it's really helped us. ... I think it's been very beneficial with the new guys with the amount of tape work that we've done, and we've done a lot.'

The schedule is about to pick up considerably. Tonight's game is the front end of a back-to-back that concludes Thursday at home against Philadelphia. This begins a stretch of 11 games in the next 18 days, which includes three sets of back-to-backs. Seven of the 11 games are on the road.

'We've had time to get more rested. There's nothing bad about that, but the tempo is about to pick up now and it's going to be good,' said goaltender Johan Holmqvist, who has started all six games.

Though all the practice sessions and rest can have its benefits - perhaps a break in the action like this will be longed for come February - there's only so much time players want to spend practicing and watching game video.

'Players, they don't want to listen to us on the tape all the time and I think they've paid attention,' Tortorella said, 'but it's time to play the games.

'Players want to play and I think they get into a better flow that way as you go through.'

Defenseman Brad Lukowich backed up Tortorella's thoughts.

'I'm excited. I think all guys are to get a more game-heavy schedule; we love to play the games,' Lukowich said. 'We took advantage of our time off. Now the test comes with our first back-to-back, and this is where we need to step up and take advantage of the home wins we had and pick up some wins on the road.

'We are looking forward to it and we are prepared. Personally I feel it's a lot easier getting into it playing games, getting into a flow.'

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

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