Lightning-Coyotes Preview

Regular Season Matchup
	W-L-OT	HOME	ROAD	DIV	CONF
TAM	8-5-7	5-0-4	3-5-3	2-2-1	5-5-5
PHO	13-9-1	7-5-0	6-4-1	4-3-0	10-5-1
· Complete Standings

Team Stat Comparison
51	Goals	57
55	Goals Against	55
16	Power Play Goals	19
21	Power Play Goals Allowed	18
1	Shorthanded Goals	1
3	Shorthanded Goals Allowed	1
337	Penalty Minutes	311
17	Average Penalty Minutes	14

Goalie Breakdown
	GOALIE	GP	W	TGA	GAA	SO	SV	SV%
	Mike Smith	11	3	36	3.37	0	281	.886
	Antero Niittymaki	10	5	19	1.93	0	295	.939
	Ilya Bryzgalov	19	12	38	2.04	3	447	.922
	Jason LaBarbera	5	1	12	2.66	0	117	.907

Team Stat Leaders
G	Steven Stamkos 14	Radim Vrbata 7
A	Martin St. Louis 16	Shane Doan 10
PTS	Steven Stamkos 22	Shane Doan 16
PIM	Zenon Konopka 76	Paul Bissonnette 46
SOG	Vincent Lecavalier 72	Radim Vrbata 80

The Tampa Bay Lightning were dismal on the road earlier this season, but they showed signs of improvement away from home recently, due in large part to the goaltending of Antero Niittymaki.

Niittymaki and the Lightning seek to earn at least a point for the sixth straight game Monday when they begin a four-game road trip with a matchup against the Phoenix Coyotes.

Tampa Bay (7-4-6) got outscored 25-9 while losing its first five road games, but went 2-0-1 to conclude a four-game trip the first week of November.

Niittymaki was in net for all three of those contests, allowing a total of five goals on 107 shots. He's yielded just one goal in four of his last six starts, and his 1.93 goals-against average ranks second in the NHL behind Buffalo's Ryan Miller (1.77).

Niittymaki made 29 saves in regulation and overtime at home Saturday, but gave up the deciding goal in a shootout to Anze Kopitar as the Lightning fell 2-1 to Los Angeles.

Tampa Bay winger Ryan Malone tied the game in the third period, and it appeared the Lightning had won after Paul Szczechura's apparent goal with 1:40 left in overtime. Officials disallowed that tally due to goaltender interference, although it appeared Szczechura might have been pushed into the Kings' Jon Quick by a Los Angeles player.

"There's nothing you can do. It happens," Tampa Bay coach Rick Tocchet said. "We had a couple chances in overtime, but it's a tough one."

Tocchet's team did earn at least point for the fifth straight game (3-0-2). The Lightning now take to the road to play four games in seven days, traveling cross country to visit the Coyotes and Anaheim, before returning east to face Southeast Division rivals Carolina and Atlanta.

If Niittymaki makes his sixth consecutive start Monday, it will be the first time he's ever faced the Coyotes. Backup Mike Smith has lost his last two starts against Phoenix.

Phoenix (11-8-0) closes its three-game homestand after splitting the first two games. The Coyotes are looking to build off a 3-2 win over Dallas on Saturday in which goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov, whose 2.04 GAA ranks immediately behind Niittymaki's, made 26 saves.

He helped Phoenix bounce back after losing four of its previous five, giving up 18 goals in that span.

"It's a huge win to get out of that funk there," said defenseman David Schlemko, who broke a 1-1 tie when he scored with 23.3 seconds remaining in the second period.

The Coyotes killed five of Dallas' six power plays despite missing defenseman Ed Jovanovski and Zbynek Michalek, who have missed the last two games because of lower-body injuries. Michalek is considered week-to-week while Jovanovski is day-to-day, although according to the team's Web site, he isn't expected to play until the weekend.

Phoenix beat Tampa Bay 3-2 at home Jan. 8 in their only meeting of last season and first since Feb. 13, 2007. The Coyotes had lost six of the previous seven matchups in the series.