Bolts fall to Colorado in shootout

Tampa Bay's 12-day excursion across the Midwest region of the U.S. got off to a positive start, just not as well as hoped.

The Lightning lost a third-period lead before falling 2-1 in a shootout to Colorado, Tampa Bay's sixth shootout loss this season in seven tries. The Lightning are 3-9 in games decided past regulation on the season.

Stephane Veilleux, Vinny Lecavalier and Alex Tanguay all missed their attempts, dropping Tampa Bay's shooters to 2-for-22 this season, with both conversions coming in the Lightning's only shootout victory on Nov. 12 vs. Minnesota.

Wojtek Wolski, who tied the game late in the third, converted Colorado's third chance to help pick up the extra point.

Antero Niittymaki stopped 33 shots in the game, including 17 in the third period, but it wasn't enough as the Lightning lost for the seventh time in the past eight games, with two coming in overtime.

Steve Downie proved that the third time was the charm to open the scoring in the first period. After Andrej Meszaros saved an odd-man rush the other way, Downie fed Marty St. Louis for a quick shot on goal from the slot that Craig Anderson saved. Vinny Lecavalier collected the rebound for another opportunity that was thwarted by Anderson before Downie picked up the rebound and put the puck past Anderson at 12:12 for his sixth goal of the season, third in the past five games.

During a lifeless second period for both teams, the Lightning missed a golden opportunity to increase their lead as Downie blocked a shot at the top of the defensive blue line to help spring a 2-on-0 break with Lecavalier. Downie fed a pass over to the captain inside the Colorado zone, but Lecavalier's shot couldn't reach the top corner as Anderson made a blocker save with 1:36 left in the second, Tampa Bay's first shot in a 9:22 span.

"It's easy to analyze after the fact, but I thought I had the low blocker but the shot went into the blocker," Lecavalier said. "... Maybe I should have faked and maybe went back, I don't know.

"The puck wasn't really bouncing (on the pass) and I felt that I had the shot open to the low blocker, but the shot didn't get there."

Clinging to the one-goal lead, Tampa Bay took a pair of carless penalties early in the period. Meszaros took a hooking call 2:08 into the period, a power play in which Colorado fired five shots on net as Tampa Bay couldn't clear the puck out of the zone for nearly the entire power play until Niittymaki held onto a shot from Paul Stastny.

Less than a minute after killing off that penalty, Downie went to the box for slashing at 4:47, and though the Avalanche managed just one shot on goal, Darcy Tucker missed an open redirect chance in front at 6:32.

"It was not just the third, but the last 30 minutes we were on our heels. We stopped skating and were not doing the things we did the first 30 minutes," Lightning defenseman Mattias Ohlund said.