Thursday, December 27, 2007
Markov and Kastsitsyn scored 24 seconds apart as Montreal beats Tampa Bay 5-2
Associated Press
TAMPA, Fla. -- The Tampa Bay Lightning might have hit rock
bottom.
Andrei Markov and Andrei Kastsitsyn scored 24 seconds apart
early in the third period, Cristobal Huet had 28 saves, and the
Montreal Canadiens beat the slumping Lightning 5-2 on Thursday
night.
"We have zip for confidence," Tampa Bay coach John Tortorella
said after the Lightning lost for the eighth time in 10 games. "We
can't give our problems to someone else. We need to mentally, first
of all, start thinking, 'I need to make a difference. I need to
regain my confidence here.' Hopefully a few guys start doing that,
and maybe a good thing happens."
Maxim Lapierre, Guillaume Latendresse and Alex Kovalev also
scored for the Canadiens, who had lost two straight. Montreal is
12-6-2 away from home this season.
"On the road, we seem to play more relaxed and kind of play the
game with nothing to lose," Kovalev said. "When we come back
home, we try to overdue things. We try to do a little bit extra
because family is in the building, and friends and all of our
fans."
Vinny Prospal and Jan Hlavac scored third-period goals for the
Lightning. Tampa Bay, tied with Washington for the fewest points in
the Eastern Conference (33), has scored two goals or fewer during
regulation in 10 of 11 games.
"This is pretty low," Lightning right wing Martin St. Louis
said. "This is as low as we've hit for a long time. It happens.
You don't like it when it happens. You grow from it, and you battle
though it. There's no doubt in my mind we'll come out of this."
Markov's goal 44 seconds into the third during a power play put
Montreal up 4-0. Kastsitsyn made it a five-goal lead at 1:08.
"We wanted to go hard at them," Canadiens coach Guy Carbonneau
said. "We wanted to make sure that we put the pressure (on them).
Keep the puck out of our zone and into their zone because that's
where they're struggling."
Lapierre put the Canadiens ahead 1-0 during a 2-on-1 at 10:20 of
the first. Tortorella used his timeout after Latendresse scored on
the rebound to make it 2-0 with 7:12 left in the first.
Johan Holmqvist was pulled for the fourth time in five starts
early in the second after allowing three goals on 11 shots.
Holmqvist, who didn't play in the previous three games after Tampa
Bay recalled rookie Karri Ramo from Norfolk (AHL) on Dec. 19,
returned for the final 13 minutes of the game.
Holmqvist went to the bench after Kovalev's shot from the right
circle deflected off Tampa Bay defenseman Filip Kuba for a 3-0
Montreal advantage 10 seconds into the middle period. Holmqvist was
replaced by Ramo, who made several strong saves including one
against Christopher Higgins on a short-handed breakaway.
Prospal had a rebound goal at 6:15 of the third. Hlavac broke a
17-game goal drought in the final minute.Game notes
Tampa Bay D Dan Boyle (wrist surgery) has been cleared to
resume skating. There is no timetable for his return. ... Lightning
G Marc Denis, who lost his starting role last season, has been a
healthy scratch four straight games. Denis, is in the second season
of a three-year, $8.6 million contract, could soon be placed on
waivers. ... Montreal RW Michael Ryder returned to the lineup after
being a healthy scratch the previous three games. ... Canadiens D
Patrice Brisebois (shoulder), LW Steve Begin (shoulder) and C Bryan
Smolinski (knee) all remain sidelined by injuries. Brisebois and
Begin could return in one to two weeks. Smolinski could miss
another three weeks. ... Tampa Bay D Doug Janik assisted on
Prospal's goal. It was his first point in 34 games.
