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Eminger Feeling Revived

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By ERIK ERLENDSSON eerlendsson@tampatrib.com

The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 14, 2009

SUNRISE - Being back in the middle of a playoff chase has former Lightning D Steve Eminger energized.

Eminger was dealt to Florida at the trade deadline in exchange for Noah Welch and a third-round draft pick. Though Eminger hasn't picked up a point since joining the Panthers, he has seen his ice time rise from 13 minutes to 18 minutes, still a far cry from the 22 minutes a night he was playing this season with the Lightning.

At times, Eminger was playing more than 30 minutes a game, which he admits was a bit much for him. Lightning general manager Brian Lawton said those minutes led to Eminger being dealt because he played himself into too expensive of a contract for next season.

Leading up to the deadline, Lawton said the Bolts tried to sign Eminger to an extension, negotiating with his agent for a week. But Eminger said things never really got serious. He is scheduled to become a restricted free agent at the end of the season.

"There was an offer but it wasn't getting too serious," Eminger said. "It wasn't intense. It's not like I was in their office in meetings with my agent. There was none of that."

PAYBACK: At the opening faceoff, Florida RW Ville Peltonen, listed at 5-foot-11 and 182 pounds, immediately dropped his gloves and went after Bolts RW Evgeny Artyukhin, who goes 6-5, 259.

The bout stemmed from a knee-on-knee hit Artyukhin put on Peltonen in the last meeting between the teams on Jan. 17 in Tampa. Artyukhin received a two-game suspension for the hit.

SMITTY UNMASKED: The next edition of "Inside the Lightning" will feature a behind-the-scenes look at G Mike Smith. The episode debuts Tuesday at 10:30 p.m. on Sun Sports following Tampa Bay's game against Toronto.

The show, hosted by Paul Kennedy, features interviews with Smith's parents, Ron and Ingrid, as well as Smith's older brother, Brad. The show will be replayed throughout the month.

BLUE-LINE BLUES: Heading into Saturday's games, the six defensemen on the ice for Florida had scored a combined 34 goals, which doesn't include the 12 scored by injured D Bryan McCabe.

The total goals scored by the six Lightning defensemen was six - four by Cory Murphy.

NUTS AND BOLTS: RW Matt Pettinger played in his 400th career game. ... LW David Koci was scratched.

Erik Erlendsson

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