Lightning's Niittymaki earns his time in net

Pictures often tell different stories when viewed from different angles and perspectives. But numbers, well, numbers can often paint a telling tale.

And with his numbers in the first month of the season, Antero Niittymaki is making a case for increased playing time, which is exactly what he's getting.

Niittymaki, signed to a one-year deal worth $600,000 with the intention of using him as a spot starter for No. 1 goaltender Mike Smith, will get the call for the third time in four games as the Lightning visit Ottawa tonight.

Quite frankly, Niittymaki deserves to take the ball and run with it right now.

"He's playing really well and he's winning, you keep playing him," Lightning coach Rick Tocchet said.

It's not a difficult decision to make when presented with a comparison of the numbers between Niittymaki and Smith.

In Niittymaki's five starts this season, including Tuesday's 40-save showing in a 2-1 overtime win in Toronto, he has a 3-1-1 record with a 1.97 goals-against average and a .941 save percentage. In those starts, he has allowed more than two goals only once, in a 4-1 loss Oct. 17 in Pittsburgh.

"For me, seeing the puck is probably the biggest thing," Niittymaki said about his success. "There's always traffic, but sometimes you're able to see everything and find the puck, and right now I'm seeing everything. With that, it's just being patient. Try to find it at the last second, not go down and get up and hope that it hits you."

The puck certainly has been hitting him a lot, as he has faced 79 shots in his past two outings while only allowing two pucks past him.

Whether others viewed him as a backup or not, that is not the way he has approached his role here.

"You never know what's going to happen," he said. "It's a long year. There are ups and downs. Just play your best every time you get a chance and hopefully that's good enough to get more games. That's what it is. I'm pretty sure every goalie thinks that way."

For Smith, however, it has been a tale of two venues.

At home, he looks like the Smith who played so well the first half of last season. The 6-foot-4 netminder is 2-0-2 on home ice with a 2.16 goals-against average and a .927 save percentage.

To say Smith has struggled on the road is like saying ice is cold.

In four starts away from home, Smith is 0-3-1 with a 5.38 goals against-average and a mind-boggling .756 save percentage. He has allowed five or more goals in three of those starts and was pulled in his most recent, Monday in Philadelphia.

"Obviously you look at the numbers, they are not where they need to be," Smith said. "I'm disappointed with the consistency, but it's a long year. Mentally I'm fine. You don't like to have games like I've had, but it's going to happen throughout your career and throughout a season, and you just have to try to keep an even keel, even though it's hard because I'm so hard on myself."

For the time being, the 27-year-old Smith will have to work hard in practice and wait his turn while Niittymaki is on top of his game.

"It's important to have two guys who can carry the ball, and right now that's Niitty and he's doing a heck of a job of it," Smith said. "He's keeping us in games and getting us points that we need to get right now, because these points you can't get back once you lose them."