Devils send Bolts to another shootout defeat

TAMPA Saturday's Halloween matinee looked a bit too Night of the Living Dead as Tampa Bay sleep-skated through most of the afternoon.

Though the Lightning remained the only team in the Eastern Conference unbeaten in regulation on home ice (4-0-3) following a 2-1 shootout loss to New Jersey, Tampa Bay deserved a much worse fate.

Antero Niittymaki stopped 37 shots in a strong showing but received little help as Tampa Bay mustered only 19 shots on goal - 10 in third period and overtime - against future Hall of Famer Martin Brodeur, who came within 15 minutes of tying Terry Sawchuk's all-time record of 103 career shutouts.

Only a Steven Stamkos pass attempt in the third period that deflected in off the stick of Jamie Langenbrunner prevented another history-making night for Brodeur and allowed the Lightning to steal a point.

"We didn't deserve the extra point," Lightning coach Rick Tocchet said. "We came out flat the first two periods."

Through the opening 40 minutes, Tampa Bay looked slow on its skates, slow to loose pucks and lethargic on the ice. There was little offensive pressure, almost no puck possession in the New Jersey zone, little to no energy on too many shifts and a power play that looked anything but electrifying in three opportunities.

It all resulted in a 28-9 shot advantage through two periods for New Jersey, though the Devils only held a one-goal lead on a Travis Zajac rebound 50 seconds into the second period.

"It wasn't great hockey, that's for sure," Bolts left wing Ryan Malone said. "It felt like maybe we were flat and weren't on the same page. We made some bad decisions with the puck. It wasn't pretty. We played some sloppy hockey."

Tampa Bay had the opportunity to make up for the subpar play and walk away with an undeserved victory in the team's fourth overtime game of the season. But once again, the resulted ended up in the dreaded overtime loss column as all four Lightning shooters failed to put a puck in the net, dropping Tampa Bay to 0-4 in shootouts this season.

"Those are big points," Niittymaki said. "It might now feel like it right now, but when it comes April and you miss the playoffs by one point, you look back and if you lose five or six shootouts, those are huge points. We try to work on them, but I think it's just mental right now. We have skill here to score goals."

For those keeping track at home, Tampa Bay's shooters are 0-for-14 in shootout attempts this season, with Vinny Lecavalier and Stamkos both are 0-for-3 after each missed Saturday. Tocchet even sent out defenseman Andrej Meszaros - who hit the post - and Jeff Halpern on the first two attempts Saturday to try to change the team's lack of shootout success.

"We tried to put our rally caps on on the bench today to try to change things, but I don't know, we can't score," said Stamkos, who became the first player in the league this season to score a goal in five consecutive games. "It's pretty frustrating on the forwards' part. The past two games, especially, our goalies have given us a chance to win."

And while the finger might have been pointed at the goaltending in the first two shootout attempts this season as Mike Smith stopped one of five attempts against, Smith and Niittymaki have combined to stop eight of the past 10 shooters, yet Tampa Bay has seen the same result.

"What do you do? I don't know ... it's baffling," Tocchet said of the lack of success in shootouts. "We practice (shootouts) every two or three practices."

After spending the past two weeks at home, and getting in plenty of practice time with four games in 14 days, the Lightning will try to take its home success out on the road with a four games-in-six nights trip that starts Monday in Philadelphia.

But they know zombie-like efforts such as Saturday won't be enough.

"We can't expect to win by playing like that," Malone said. "We have to play harder and smarter to win."