After passing tests, Bolts' St. Louis is in lineup

Three days after having his head knocked into the end boards, the Lightning's Marty St. Louis felt no lingering effects Tuesday from the blow delivered by Atlanta's Clarke McArthur.

After skating for the first time Tuesday morning, St. Louis was back in the lineup Tuesday night at Montreal in a game critical to the Lightning's playoff hopes.

Tampa Bay did not practice Sunday, and St. Louis rode a stationary bike Monday to gauge how he would feel is he exerted himself. He also had a neurological test to determine whether he had sustained a concussion. St. Louis passed both tests, and he said he felt fine after skating for the first time Tuesday morning.

In the waning minutes of the Lightning's victory against the Thrashers on Saturday, St. Louis was at the side of the net trying to bang in a rebound when McArthur gave him a shove that sent the former league MVP flying backward. St. Louis' head slammed into the boards, leaving him woozy.

"It was pretty scary," St. Louis said after Tuesday's morning skate at Bell Centre. "There was a second 'bam' and, obviously, it was the boards. Back there is your balance and your vision, and both of them were pretty shaky at that time. But I was aware.

"I was trying to get out of the way of the scrum and I had a tough time getting one foot in front of the other. But once I skated off the ice ... I had full balance and everything. It probably took a minute to get back to normal, but I didn't have light legs or (feel) light-headed. I was aware of everything."

After watching the team's leading scorer head off the ice, Coach Rick Tocchet said he was concerned about St. Louis' status.

"It's one of those where I didn't want to go near him because I didn't want to get the bad news," Tocchet said.

It appears the news is positive.

"We made a precautionary decision (Monday) to do the neuro test to see how my head was, and my head was fine," St. Louis said. "But the fact of the matter is I had no balance for 45 seconds, and you have to address it the right way and I think we did. I pushed myself on the bike (Monday), pushing my heart rate up to 175 and felt fine. I haven't had any headaches or anything."

Feeding frenzy

The Lightning didn't make many friends with the Bell Centre maintenance crew Tuesday morning after C Steven Stamkos shattered two panes of glass. Many of his teammates then sent a barrage of shots into the broken panes, trying to completely knock the glass out.

"The 7-year-old kids in every one of us come out after that," Stamkos said.

Despite the players' efforts, the glass did not completely shatter.

"It looked like angry sharks out there," Tocchet said.

Nuts and bolts

LW Ryan Malone (upper body) and C Zenon Konopka (back) missed Tuesday's game. Malone is day-to-day, while Konopka is expected to miss at least a week. ... Former Lightning G Marc Denis is working part time with French TV station RDS.