March 22, 2004
NHL Weekend Roundup
Are the Tampa Bay Lightning running out of power? Lots of folks are going to be asking questions after a weekend where the Eastern Conference leaders dropped a pair of winnable games -- first, 5-4 to the Boston Bruins on Saturday, followed by a listless 3-0 loss to the eighth place Islanders on Sunday. And, as per usual, head coach John Tortorella is bacck to using negative reinforcement with his team, focussing this time on his goaltending tandem:
"If Nikolai Khabibulin can't make that save at that point in time from where that shot was taken, we're in trouble," Tortorella told reporters in Florida. "If you can't make a save like that come playoff time, we're in trouble."
The former Coyotes assistant coach didn't stop there.
"We have the best (goaltending) tandem in the league when they're on, but they have to do it more consistently. .. So, do I have concerns? Yes."
Tortorella also told reporters that the Lightning may not be the Stanley Cup contender everybody thinks it is.
What is he doing and why is he doing it now?
Despite the lost weekend, the Lightning still lead the East by a point over Philadelphia. John at BoltsMag is distressed.
With a chance to catch New Jersey for sixth place in the Eastern Conference, the Montreal Canadiens made the most of it, taking three points of a possible four in their two game set against the Devils and tie them for sixth place at 90 points. After settling for a 1-1 tie on Friday night in New Jersey, the Canadiens got a goal and an assist from Michael Ryder on Saturday night on their way to a 3-2 win at the Bell Centre. With Trent Hunter of the New York Islanders mired in a scoring slump, Ryder and Boston's Andrew Raycroft look to be battling for the Calder Trophy down the stretch.
After watching Toronto dismantle Colorado on Saturday, I've concluded that Avalanche head coach Tony Granato will be quite happy spending the rest of the season waiting for his team to get healthy before the start of the playoffs.
Over the past two weeks, I've been remiss in mentioning how the gritty Edmonton Oilers have pulled themselves back into the playoff race. First, the Oil downed Nashville 5-4 on Friday, and followed it up with a 5-2 win over the Sharks on Sunday. With seven games remaining, Edmonton trails St. Louis by three points for the last playoff spot in the West.
Congratulations to Luc Robataille, who tied Johnny Bucyk for the most points by a left wing in NHL history during L.A.'s 4-2 loss to Detroit on Saturday night.
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01:42 AM