Bolts hold on against Thrashers for another win

The Lightning continue to look for a spark to ignite something, anything, to help the team catch fire.

Yet, even after a 4-3 victory on Saturday night at the Forum against division-rival Atlanta - Tampa Bay's third win in its past four games - it looked like a case of one step forward, one step back that has the Lightning looking like they are running uphill on a treadmill.

One game after losing to Philadelphia - that was tied 2-2 entering the third period, with a flat effort in the final frame - the Lightning found a way to pick up their game in the third against Atlanta.

While third-period goals by Ryan Malone and Alex Tanguay broke a 2-2 tie heading into the final period, the Lightning again failed to find the part of their game that puts the opponent out of their misery.

The two-goal cushion Malone provided with his 19th of the season at the 6:45 mark of the third, which followed Tanguay's first goal since Nov. 16 by 1:41, should have been the point where Tampa Bay played smarter and simpler to ensure the two-goal margin didn't shrink.

Yet, Ilya Kovalchuk's goal with 3:10 left gave the Thrashers life and nearly allowed them to pull even before the final buzzer blared with the Lightning clinging to the lead.

"We are trying to learn from your past experiences," Lightning coach Rick Tocchet said. "You can say you are learning from them, but when it keeps happening too often you have to do something to change it. I think tonight the players figured they had to do something about it. We get a couple of goals (in the third) against a team that is ahead of us in the standings, it gives us that cushion. But I still don't think we make it easy.

"At 4-2 we have to learn to play to win the game. We make it harder on ourselves. We have to be careful because it's going to bite you in the (rear) just like it has this year."

For the seventh consecutive time, Tampa Bay allowed the opening goal of the game when Nik Antropov scored off a Kovalchuk rebound at 11:48 of the first period. Steve Downie answered 1:46 later, however, before Mike Lundin - called up on Christmas Day - scored his first career goal to give Tampa Bay the lead 4:44 into the second period.

After discussing the events of the previous game, which led Zenon Konopka to say the team's intensity and passion needed to pick up, Tampa Bay looked a bit more committed Saturday.

Led by Vinny Lecavalier's three assists, the Lightning came out to win, even though they still have to learn how to do it more consistently.

"We came out with a little more fire and some more jump in our step to start the third and did a great job in getting a couple of goals there," said goaltender Mike Smith, who stopped 24 shots. "We were able to hang on to the lead, which is great to see, but I think we still need improvement, obviously, and we just need to keep pushing forward.

"And when we have a two-goal lead, maybe make sure we get that next one and put them out of their misery."