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Richards Has Answers In Road Test

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By CARTER GADDIS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 13, 2008

Updated: 01/13/2008 12:11 am

SUNRISE - It looked like it was going to be Nick Tarnasky's night, his first turn at playing the role of Lightning savior.

And yes, the two goals he scored were critical in Tampa Bay's 5-3 victory Saturday night against the Florida Panthers at the BankAtlantic Center.

In the end, though, it took a couple of big plays by an old standby to secure a rare win on the road.

Brad Richards' power-play goal midway through the third period - a goal that made it 4-1 - turned out to be the game-winner.

And, as the final seconds ticked away, Richards ended a frantic few minutes in front of Tampa Bay's net by stripping the puck from Florida's Nathan Horton and lifting it softly down the ice for an empty-net goal.

"That's what top players do, is make top-player plays like that," Tarnasky said. "For Richie to step up to score the game-winner and make a play like that at the end of a game is something that makes him the part of this team that he is."

Richards' first goal was his first in 13 games. It came after Florida's Bryan Allen was called for slashing Tarnasky 7:59 into the third period.

Richards' second goal was a bonus, a reward for being the one to finally clear the puck from Tampa Bay's zone after the Panthers spent virtually all of the final five minutes peppering goalie Johan Holmqvist in a desperate comeback attempt.

"I was just trying to get it out of the zone," said Richards, who chided himself for making a play a moment earlier against the wall that nearly led to a Florida scoring chance. "The puck didn't bite, luckily. It was nice to be able to see it go in and get the win."

Especially on the road, where the Lightning have won two in a row to improve their league-worst road record to 5-14-3.

After a dominant second period, during which Jan Hlavac's seventh goal and Tarnasky's second of the night gave Tampa Bay a 3-1 lead, the Lightning had to scrap for all they were worth to turn back the Panthers in the closing minutes.
David Booth scored with five minutes left to cut the lead to 4-2. Brett McLean scored with 1:29 left to make it 4-3. And Richard Zednik shot one off the left post behind Holmqvist with 25 seconds to play, setting up the scrum along the boards that eventually led to Richards' game-sealing empty-netter.

Lightning coach John Tortorella naturally was pleased with his team's ability to overcome a quick first-period goal by Olli Jokinen (he scored his 21st 38 seconds in after a Filip Kuba turnover) and with a second period in which the Panthers were limited to four shots.

"Our scoring chances the first two periods, we didn't give them much at all," Tortorella said.

"We have really closed off the amount of scoring chances against us, starting with the road trip. We're just trying to be smarter in the neutral zone."

But Tortorella could not contain his exasperation after Florida came so close to tying it in the final minute.

"It's unbelievable," he said, "how we just continue to keep teams in games."

In addition to Richards' important contributions late, the Lightning got productive minutes from just about every line. The combination of Chris Gratton, Jason Ward and Hlavac created the go-ahead goal in the second period, and Tarnasky's first career multigoal game came as a result of hard work by him and linemates Mathieu Darche and Craig MacDonald.

"But we can't get everything going at one time," Tortorella said. "This has been a problem for us all year long, is getting everything going at the same time. Because we didn't get too much out of the other guys.

"But you know, you find a way to win. We found a way to win, got two points. You've just got to keep on fighting."

Reporter Carter Gaddis can be reached at (813) 259-8291 or igaddis@tampatrib.com.

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