Bolts Notebook: St. Louis overcomes illness, extends game streak

Marty St. Louis spent his Christmas wondering whether his time off would be extended by a couple days.

St. Louis battled a stomach virus that had him vomiting multiple times Saturday night and into early Sunday. He was in bad enough shape that when the team charter departed Tampa just before 9 a.m., St. Louis was home in bed, putting his streak of 425 consecutive games played in jeopardy.

A little extra rest did St. Louis wonders, however, and he caught a commercial flight to Atlanta that arrived around 2 p.m.

After taking in plenty of fluids to fight off dehydration, St. Louis suited up for warm-ups and after a brief skate, declared himself able to play in his 426th consecutive game, the third-longest active streak in the league.

The league's third-leading scorer made an immediate impact, picking up a secondary assist on Steven Stamkos' goal at 8:14 of the first period.

"It was a weird 24 hours, to be honest, a lot of ups and downs," said St. Louis, who also received stitches above his right eye after taking a high stick from Tobias Enstrom. "But it's about finding a way and (Sunday) we found a way like I found a way."

Lightning coach Guy Boucher said he was not aware of St. Louis' situation until driving to the airport Sunday morning.

"I picked up the phone and was asked, 'How you doing, coach?' I said I was OK. ... 'Well, you might not be OK after this,' '' Boucher said. "Obviously it's Marty, so we need him.''

Chances dwindling

At one point this season, the Lightning led the league in power-play opportunities. But with one of the top power plays in the league, opposing teams have taken notice and are stressing discipline when facing Tampa Bay.

In its first 25 games, Tampa Bay had at least four power plays 18 times and two or fewer only three times. But in the previous 10 games heading into Sunday, the Lightning had four or more power-play chances only four times and two or fewer four times.

Boucher said he's noticed teams being less aggressive for fear of giving Tampa Bay a man advantage, and for good reason. Entering Sunday, the Lightning led the league with 36 power-play goals and were third overall with a 24.2 percent success rate.

"Teams look at our power play, and they want to take that away from us because that is one of our weapons,'' Boucher said. "Teams are doing the right thing. That's a good plan against us.''

Boucher said the lack of power plays is not because Tampa Bay has stopped working hard to draw other teams into penalties.

"We are still skating hard, probably harder than we have, getting in the zone and forcing ourselves in there,'' he said. "Teams are not hooking us or anything, and they will sometimes rather let us go with a bit of space rather than try to grab us.''

Chasing gold

The World Junior Hockey Championship opened Sunday in Buffalo, N.Y., with four Lightning prospects - two for Canada and two for Slovakia - taking part in the U-20 tournament.

First-round picks Brett Connolly (sixth overall in 2010) and Carter Ashton (29th overall in 2009) represent Canada, while Richard Panik (second round in 2009) and Adam Janosik (third round in 2010) represent Slovakia.

Canada defeated Russia 6-3 on Sunday, with Ashton and Connolly each held off the scoreboard as neither recorded a shot on goal. Canada resumes play Tuesday against the Czech Republic; Slovakia opens today against Germany.

Nuts and Bolts

D Matt Smaby was a healthy scratch. ... D Randy Jones played in his 300th career game.