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New Jersey Devils vs Tampa Bay Lightning Hockey

Dave Jarvis (RSEN Hockey/"Inside Hockey" Correspondent): Posted on Saturday, February 26, 2011 3:40 AM

Bolts Cool Down Devils, 2-1

Tampa, Fl. – (RSEN) The Tampa Bay Lightning (36-18-7) used a workman-like effort to cool off another hot team, as they beat the New Jersey Devils (26-31-4) Friday night at The St. Pete Times Forum by a score of 2-1. New Jersey came into the game riding an 8-game win streak as part of a 16-1-2 run over their last 19 games.

The Lightning knew they had to play a conservative game in order to beat the Devils and their strategy showed early in the game as their play was measured and deliberate. It took the Bolts almost 9 minutes before they registered their first shot in the contest - much to the delight of the 19,563 relieved fans on hand.

The aggressive but patient approach Lightning Coach Guy Boucher spoke about before the game finally paid dividends early in the second period, as the Lightning used the face-off circle to get two goals in a 1:14 stretch.

The first goal came at the 2:20 mark when the Bolts’ Steven Stamkos won a draw in the Devils zone and directed the puck to Steve Downie. Downie then found forward Marty St. Louis, who was able to open the scoring by beating New Jersey goalie Johan Hedberg. For St. Louis it was his 23rd goal of the season, continuing his own hot streak of 11 points in his last 8 games (3 goals and 8 assists).

Less than a minute later, Simon Gagne wristed a high, glove-side bullet past Hedberg to extend the Bolts lead to 2-0. The play started after Vinnie Lecavalier was chased out of the face-off circle and replaced by Teddy Purcell, who won the draw and directed the puck to Gagne for his 10th of the season.

New Jersey cut the lead to 2-1 at 8:13 of the third period when defenseman Mark Fayne scored his 4th goal of the season on a screened shot which Lightning goalie Dwayne Roloson likely never saw.

Roloson was impressive in shutting the door the rest of the way to preserve the win for the Bolts, stopping 20 of 21 shots to earn the victory.

The win gives the Lightning 79 points on the season for a firm hold on the Southeast Division, which they lead by five points over second-place Washington following the Capitals’ loss to the New York Rangers on Friday night. The Bolts are also positioned well in the Eastern Conference standings overall, as they hold second place alone.

The Lightning complete their 12-game marathon of a home-stand at 7-3-2; and now head on a 3-game road trip which sees the club playing the New York Rangers in Madison Square Garden on Sunday before visiting New Jersey and Boston to finish the road trip.

You can follow the Bolts on rocketsports-ent.com to get your entire up-to-the-minute trade deadline information. Updates are also available by following on twitter @davejarvisRSEN.

Don’t forget to also listen every Saturday morning from 10 AM to Noon to the Rocket Sports & Entertainment Network radio program on Tampa’s ESPN 1040AM.

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Detroit Red Wings vs Tampa Bay Lightning Hockey

Dave Jarvis (RSE/"Inside Hockey" Correspondent): Posted on Friday, February 18, 2011 8:21 AM

Bolts Do Not Measure Up; Wings Win 6-2

Tampa, Fl. -- (RSE) The Tampa Bay Lightning organization is modeling themselves after the Detroit Red Wings both on and off the ice. So, as Lightning General Manager Steve Yzerman stated in reference to Thursday night’s game between the two teams, “This was going to be a measuring stick for our organization to see where we stand as a hockey club.”

Well, the Detroit Red Wings came into the St. Pete Times Forum and showed the Tampa Bay Lightning organization they still have some growing up to do - winning in comfortable fashion, 6-2. And the Lightning also learned a valuable lesson courtesy of the veteran Wings: Great hockey teams win games by doing the little things well.

“We have a long way to go to get to that level,” said Coach Guy Boucher after the game in assessing his team. “This is the best team we have faced all year. Period…End of story.”

Detroit was led by a consortium of their best players as Pavel Datsyuk had 2 goals, Dan Cleary a goal and two assists and goaltender Jimmy Howard 38 saves while surrendering just 2 goals. At no time did Howard ever appear to be rattled by the Bolts.

At the 14:38 mark of the second period, Tampa Bay started to claim some momentum, managing to tie the game on goals from Victor Hedman and Steve Downie. But just as things seemed to be going their way, a questionable penalty call on Vinnie Lecavalier for goaltender interference halted any momentum the Lightning had worked to build.

Detroit capitalized by scoring on the subsequent power play, as Niklas Kronwall sent the puck ricocheting off two Lightning defenders and into the net for a 3-2 lead which was never threatened.

In front of the capacity crowd of 20,849 fans in attendance - many clad in Detroit’s iconic “Hockey Town” sweaters - the Bolts continued to battle fiercely and not quit. Nonetheless, their efforts were not enough to challenge the Red Wings, who were clearly the better team this evening.

Boucher was quick to praise the Wings after the game as the “standard” for the NHL. But he also acknowledged that his Bolts are farther along than expected, despite the need to shore up some holes before the playoffs commence.

“We have a long ways to go to get to that (playoff-winning) level,” he stated candidly about his team’s play in the postgame wrap. “We have 2 months to get there.”

If (as I expect) Lightning GM Yzerman is going to use this performance against hockey royalty to determine how aggressive he will be at the trade deadline, then this game showed there are still a number of deficiencies which must be addressed if the Lightning wants to become an elite hockey team.

With things tightening up in the Southeast Division race for the Bolts, they will seek to get back on track this Saturday against the division-rival Florida Panthers. The puck drops at The St. Pete Times Forum at 7:30 PM.

For further details and insight on Lightning hockey as the trade deadline and postseason approaches, please tune in to the Rocket Sports & Entertainment show on Tampa Bay’s ESPN 1040 AM from 10 AM to noon this and every Saturday. Daily Lightning, Rays and USF coverage is also available online at rocketsports-ent.com.

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