Stamkos steals the show in Lightning victory

The play should have been over and the puck should have been covered.

But as Antero Niittymaki sat on the ice with the puck between his legs after stopping David Booth on a breakaway in the third period of a tie game Monday night, Steven Stamkos swooped in to steal the show in Tampa Bay's 3-2 victory against Florida.

The 19-year-old, second-year center grabbed the puck on his stick and raced in the opposite direction. He zipped his way into the Florida zone and fired a shot that handcuffed Panthers G Tomas Vokoun. The puck trickled through Vokoun and sat in the crease, where Ryan Malone pushed it into the net for the game-winner at the 13:29 mark, nine seconds after Niittymaki kept the Lightning in the game.

"Before the breakaway I kind of took a look over my shoulder to make sure nobody was coming behind, and I saw three guys kind of standing still at the red line," Stamkos said. "I thought I would give it a try, try to use my speed wide, and I did and got a shot. Luckily it just sat there and Bugsy (Malone) did what he does best and went to the net."

Malone, with a team-high five goals, said he was just trailing the play waiting for something to develop.

"I was just trying to keep up with Stammer as best I could and try to get to the net," he said. "I've been telling Stammer he's done a good job of hitting the net all year, so I was lucky enough to pick up the garbage there and knock it in."

Smitty sitting

G Mike Smith felt well enough to play again, but Niittymaki played well enough to start again.

Smith, who missed the last two-plus months of last season with a concussion, was run over during Thursday's home opener, leaving him with a sore back and a stiff neck. But he had practiced the past two days and said he's fine to play, which he admitted is a bit of a surprise considering the violence of the collision.

"I never really practiced getting hit by a truck," Smith said with a smirk. "I actually looked at the tape, slowed it down a bit. It felt like it looked. Like I said before, I thought I broke every bone in my back ... so I wasn't even thinking about my head."

Smith said he also had no problem sitting out Monday's game after watching Niittymaki help the team pick up its first victory Saturday.

"He deserves to be in there," Smith said. "He played really well and made some big stops at key times. If this team is going to win this year, it's going to be because of great goaltending. So it's important to have two guys that can get in there and play well."

Misfiring

Five games into the season, the combo of Vinny Lecavalier and Alex Tanguay have combined to score zero goals.

Though it is still very early in the season, both players realize how the stat line reads.

"We've been getting shots and have had lots of opportunities, they just haven't gone in," said Lecavalier, who has five assists. "If we weren't getting the chances I would be worried."

Tanguay said he's feeling a bit "rattled" by the number of chances that he's missed, but he also knows a stretch of one point in five games wouldn't be much cause for concern in the middle of the season.

"At the start of the year everybody sees the stats and everybody sees what is going on," Tanguay said. "But I've never been a fast starter, and I don't have any excuses for it. I'm just going to keep working hard."

Nuts and bolts

D Kurtis Foster was activated off injured reserve but missed his fourth consecutive game. Foster suffered a lower-body injury in the season opener but is ready to return. ... Scouts from Nashville and Boston once again were in attendance. Detroit also had scouts on hand. ... Tampa Bay has power-play goals in all five games.