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Lightning Lose A Wild One To Flyers In Overtime, 4-3

The Associated Press

Lightning goalie Mike Smith sits on the ice and the Flyers' Simon Gagne celebrates in overtime.

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By ERIK ERLENDSSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 3, 2008

PHILADELPHIA - The Lightning and Flyers took fans to a hockey bizarro world on Tuesday in a game that had plenty of the odd and unusual and looked one part da Vinci and at times a whole lot Dali.

By the time Mike Richards scored his second goal of the game on a power play in overtime to give Philadelphia a 4-3 victory, there already had been a glove thrown on a breakaway, an ensuing missed penalty shot, a seeing-eye puck and a potential hero sitting in the penalty box when the game ended.

"This was a weird one," Lightning interim coach Rick Tocchet said.

Tampa Bay lost its third consecutive game, is winless in its last five and is 1-6-4 in the past 11. The Lightning also fell to 2-8 this season on games decided in overtime or a shootout.

The final minutes saw Tampa Bay rally from a two-goal deficit in the third, first on a popped-up puck that bounced off Vinny Prospal's shoulder, then with 4:35 left, former Flyer Steve Downie pounced on a puck that eluded Martin Biron to tie the game.

But the last minute put the final touches on the game, as Ryan Malone had a breakaway opportunity with 16.3 seconds left, but he failed to convert. He was given respite, however, when Scott Hartnell inexplicably threw his glove, giving Malone a penalty shot and a chance to win it. Biron got just enough of his shot to deflect it wide.

"It would have been nice to score for the boys and help turn this around," Malone said. "It's a situation you want to be in as a player, but it's my responsibility to put the puck in the back of the net there for the other guys in the room here."

Malone's night got worse when he bumped into Biron in overtime, resulting in the Flyers' power play.

"I don't know why the ref would think I would run the goalie there," Malone said. "I did bump into him, but I didn't fall back and put my weight into him, but the refs see what they see. It was a tough break."

Reporter Erik Erlendsson can be reached at (813) 259-7835.

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