For the first five periods of the 1998-99 season, the Tampa Bay
Lightning looked a lot like last year's club. But before you can
yell "Bring back Hamrlik", the Lightning pulled off a come from
behind tie - on the road.
After beginning the season with a lackluster performance against
the Florida Panthers (4-1 loss), and falling behind to the
Carolina Hurricanes 4-1, Wendel Clark started a third-period
rally with his second goal of the night after retrieving the puck
in the corner and beating Trevor Kidd with a wrist shot on the
right post.
"I'm not going to fool you, I didn't think we'd go back out in
the third and tie the game," said Lightning coach Jacques Demers
to Roy Cummings of the Tampa Tribune. "But I told the guys that
we have to do better than that. For our fans, we have to. We
couldn't have them thinking negative like that about us after
just two games."
Negative is a word that has been associated with the Lightning
for more than a year - and with good reason. The performance of
the club through most of last season was poor. Their effort
through the first five periods of the new campaign was much the
same. There is one simple difference. Last season the
Lightning would have folded the tent when trailing by three goals
after two periods. They went 0-42-4 in that situation.
Another bright spot for the Bolts has been the play of veteran
forward Wendel Clark. In the first two games, Clark has three
points, including two goals. Craig Janney has also played well.
He had a goal and assist in the second contest. His first of the
season, from Mikael Renberg and Pavel Kubina, tied the score at
four with 9:27 remaining in the game.
On defense, the Lightning have struggled. Cory Cross said that
they settled down a bit in the third period against the
Hurricanes, but for the most part have played inconsistent.
Rookie Pavel Kubina has the best defenseman on the ice against
the Hurricanes. He logged approximately 25 minutes and finished
a plus-one.
Demers has Jassen Cullimore paired with Cory Cross, and Michal
Sykora teamed up with David Wilkie. Kubina has played mostly
with Karl Dykhuis. The forward lines consist of Vincent
Lecavalier with Stephane Richer and Sandy McCarthy, and Craig
Janney centering Wendel Clark and Mikael Renberg.
Early this week, the Lightning agreed to terms with Kjell
Samuelsson, late of the Philadelphia Flyers, who was playing in
Austria. Samuelsson is expected to be in the lineup when the
Lightning return home to face the New York Islanders on October
14.
Also expected back in the lineup is Alexander Selivanov, who was
on an injury rehab with Cleveland of the International Hockey
League. Early indications are that Selivanov will play on a line
with Lecavalier and Rob Zamuner.
