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Richards, Carter fly high in Flyers' 6-2 win over Lightning

The Associated Press

Richards' scores were part of the Flyer's five-goal, first period onslaught against Bolts G Mike Smith.

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By ERIK ERLENDSSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 3, 2009

Updated: 11/02/2009 11:11 am

PHILADELPHIA - The Lightning have turned into road worriers.

Tampa Bay's 6-2 to loss to the Flyers on Monday marked the 11th consecutive road game in which the Lightning failed to pick up a victory, a stretch that dates back to March 14 of last season.

This season, the road woes are staggering as Tampa Bay has an 0-4-1 road record and in the past three games - at Ottawa, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia - the Lightning have been outscored 17-4, outshot 99-68 and the power play has gone a listless 1-for-15 while generating only 13 shots on goal in those man-advantage opportunities.

The road misery is the mirror opposite of the team's home fortunes, where Tampa Bay is 4-0-3 and is the only team in the Eastern Conference not to lose a game in regulation on home ice.

"At home guys may feel you need to make a play, but on the road nobody is cheering for you anyway and I think we get fooled sometimes as a team in making too many cute plays, especially when we are struggling a bit," defenseman Mattias Ohlund said. "We have to simplify everything, get pucks deep and work hard, that's the main thing."

Working hard is the main element that has been missing, and it was particularly disappointing on Monday after the team came off a poor effort on Saturday against New Jersey.

"We had a bad game against New Jersey and I thought we would answer the bell here against the Flyers," Lightning coach Rick Tocchet said. "I honestly can't think of who played good. Sometimes you have a few individuals who play good, but we were very light on our sticks and the Flyers were very strong. When somebody had a problem he threw it to somebody else. We looked really weak out there tonight and it is really alarming."

The effort, or lack thereof on Monday, went right on through the lineup. The trend started early and often. After a decent start and holding a 4-2 shot advantage seven minutes into the game, the Flyers pushed back, generating a 10-1 shot advantage through the rest of the opening period to build a 2-0 lead that was never really in danger.

"When other teams like the Flyers start to push, for some reason, we unravel," Tocchet said. "We have some players that have to make some decisions, are they going to be NHL players, where are they going. And some of our leaders didn't have good games tonight, and it's not just them, it's everybody."

The likes of Marty St. Louis, Vinny Lecavalier and Ryan Malone all saw their ice time dip on Monday with Lecavalier (16:06) and Malone (17:50) logging season-low minutes. Goaltender Mike Smith was pulled at the 6:59 mark of the second period after allowing five goals on 18 shots. And the defense as a whole had what Tocchet called "the worst game they have played this year."

It all resulted in a team-only meeting after the game that lasted about 10 minutes before the locker room doors opened.

"I think we all know we can play much better than we have, especially the past couple of games. I think our leaders stepped up and I think the message was we have to step up and play as a team," said center Steven Stamkos, who scored his 11th goal of the season to extend his goal-scoring streak to six games.

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

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