Newcomers providing playoff spark

Lightning LW Simon Gagne had a relatively disappointing 17-goal, 40-point regular season, but no one with the organization has been disappointed with Gagne's play so far during the playoffs.

Though he's yet to score a goal, Gagne has set up three scores, and that has him sharing the team scoring lead as the Lightning and Penguins prepare for Game 3 of their first-round best-of-seven series tonight at the Forum.

"We didn't pick him up with the playoffs in mind, but we always knew that he was a money player,'' Lightning coach Guy Boucher said. "He's one of those guys who tends to show up in big games.''

In Friday's Game 2, Gagne set up three goals, including the first two, in a 5-1 Lightning victory that evened the series. Gagne certainly wasn't alone, though.

Another newcomer, D Eric Brewer, sparked the victory by scoring the game's first goal and then assisting on two others.

It's a bit of a surprise that after two games the Lightning's leading scorers are a defensemen and a forward who struggled to find his groove during the regular season, but Boucher isn't surprised.

Boucher said Gagne's game started to pick up late in the regular season, and he said Brewer, who came to Tampa Bay in a deal near the trade deadline, gives his team something that all the elite teams have.

"Big guys that are mobile are rare, and we've got one of them in him,'' Boucher said. "He can move and he can move the puck, and that's his biggest asset, because when you can move like he does, you can create space for you and your partners on the ice, and that's what he's been doing.''

Super seconds

The Lightning have played the Penguins even on the scoreboard in the second period this series, but don't get the idea the Lightning have played the Penguins even on the ice during that session.

The Penguins will go into tonight's game with a 32-15 edge in shots on goal during the second period, and no one is really surprised considering the Penguins owned the second period all season.

Pittsburgh made it to the playoffs in large part because of its play in the second period, a frame in which the Penguins built a plus-26 goal differential during the regular season.

Were it not for the Lightning's penalty-killing unit, which has killed off three two-minute second-period power plays, the Lightning might be in worse shape overall than they are.

"It's definitely something we have to deal with and address,'' Brewer said of the Penguins' second-period dominance. "It's something they've been doing all year, but sometimes there's just no answer for it.''

Boucher believes there's an answer for it, and it starts with staying out of the penalty box. In each of the first two games, the Lightning have taken an early second-period penalty, and in both cases, the Penguins used that to build momentum.

"It's real simple for us,'' Boucher said. "The thing we have to do is stay out of the penalty box, because in both games we gave them momentum because we were in the box.''

Home-ice momentum

With the series even at a game apiece, the first-round matchup between the Pens and Bolts has morphed into a best-of-five affair in which the Lightning have the home-ice edge with three games in their rink.

Boucher likes the idea of having the home-ice advantage, but he doesn't really believe it will have that much of an impact on the series outcome.

"It's not about home-ice,'' he said. "It's about playing with desperation in every game and that's what we have to focus on and make sure we're doing.''

Momentum is another thing Boucher believes is often misconstrued. When asked if the Lightning's 5-1 victory at Pittsburgh on Friday gives them the edge in momentum going into Game 3, he discounted the notion.

"Yeah, we won the last game, but really there is no momentum built from that. It's our job to create that momentum when we get out there on the ice. If we can do that, then we'll have the momentum.''

Good to go

Lightning D Brett Clark took a puck to the face during the third period of Friday's game, but he was showing no ill effects from it at practice Sunday.

"I was lucky there because it got mostly my chest and my visor,'' Clark said. "I saw it coming, so I kind of buried my head in my chest a little bit and so it wasn't too bad, so I'm good to go.''

D Randy Jones (ankle) is good to go as well, but Boucher said he plans to use the same lineup tonight that he used in Game 2, so it will probably be Game 4 at least before Jones returns to action.

Stub-hub

Lightning officials said Sunday that only "a very limited'' number of tickets remain for tonight's game and Wednesday night's Game 4 at the Forum. The team said the actual number of tickets available was hard to calculate because it changes as the NHL and the Penguins give back tickets allotted to them for sale. ... The first 15,000 Lightning fans entering the building tonight will receive a Lightning-logoed rally drum. The first 15,000 Lightning fans entering the building on Wednesday will receive a pair of Lightning-logoed thundersticks.

Roy Cummings