Game 6: Florida Panthers at Tampa Bay Lightning

by Clark J Brooks on Oct 17, 2011 11:56 PM EDT in '11-'12 game recaps

TAMPA, FL - OCTOBER 17: Center Steven Stamkos #91 of the Tampa Bay Lightning battles defenseman Mike Weaver #43 of the Florida Panthers for the puck October 17, 2011 at St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images)

The Tampa Bay Lightning lost to the Florida Panthers by a score of 7-4.

On a night when Lightning fans opened a bunch of shiny new presents (A pipe organ! An outdoor, rooftop party deck! Actual lightning-producing Tesla coils...oops, not so fast on that one), the home-opening victory they really wanted slipped away amid sloppy play and a deluge of penalties.

"We lost this game on the penalty kill. We took way too many penalties." -- Lightning head coach Guy Boucher

The Panthers tallied five of their seven goals on power plays as the Lightning racked up a whopping 33 minutes on 11 penalties. Steven Weiss's goal at 15:28 of the third period was the first and only even-strength goal the Panthers have scored against the Lightning in two meetings this season. Former Bolt Sean Bergenheim also tallied a shorthanded breakaway goal in the second period.

The Lightning held the lead briefly in the first period, thanks to goals by Teddy Purcell and Victor Hedman. After the Panthers tied the game and went ahead on goals by Weiss and Kris Versteeg, the Lightning had their hands full fighting off power plays but managed to stay close on a goal by Vincent Lecavalier late in the second.

Steven Stamkosbrought the Bolts back to within one at 5-4 when he scored at 10:53 in the third, reigniting a frustrated sellout home crowd of 19,204, but the team couldn't close the gap.

The loss, the Lightning's fifth in a row and third in regulation so far this season, drops them to 1-3-2. They haven't won since beating Carolina in the first game of the year.

"It was very embarrassing. You don't want to do that to the fans who paid their hard-earned money to purchase tickets and come see the new rink while everything looks great. For us to come out like that was not acceptable...We have to look at ourselves in the mirror and pick it up because obviously we weren't good enough. -- Ryan Malone

"We were undisciplined tonight. Their power play really beat us tonight and this is our fifth loss in a row. We took too many penalties. It's a big disappointment. -- Steven Stamkos

The next game is Thursday, October 20th, against the New York Islanders at the St. Pete Times Forum. The two teams played last Thursday in New York with the Islanders beating the Lightning 5-1.

Game notes:

The Lightning have given up the first goal in five of the six games they've played so far this season.
With an assist on Purcell's goal, Marc-Andre Bergeron extended his point streak to three games, recording two goals and five assists.
Purcell's goal was the first the Panthers penalty killing unit had given up this season. They had successfully killed off nine consecutive opposing power plays prior to tonight's game.
The Lightning's 21 penalty minutes in the first tied the mark for most tallied in a period this season, equalling the 21 they accumulated in the second period last Saturday, also against the Panthers.
This was the 100th regular season meeting between the two teams. With the loss, the Lightning are 35-45-10-10 in the series.
The much-anticipated debut of two ceiling-mounted Tesla coils that will produce actual bolts of "lightning" when the Bolts score goals will have to wait at least another game as they were not ready for use in time for tonight.
16-year-old high school student Ben Carpenter was the first person recognized as a "Lightning Community Hero". Carpenter, suffering from Spinal Muscular Atrophy, with which he was diagnosed as a child, established his own 501(c)(3) non-profit organization to help others in need. His program, Ben’s Mends, restores old, damaged books to mint condition, and then donates them to worthy charitable organizations within the community including assisted living facilities, homeless shelters and children’s homes. He received a $50,000 donation from the Lightning Foundation and the Lightning Community Heroes program, and will contribute the money to his charity of choice, Junior Achievement.

Tweet Comment 14 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

Aww no comments from you fans after this game?

Jk guys.. I wasn’t home for the game this evening so DVRed it so I could watch my Cats play and what a pleasant surprise it was..

anyway enough of that not trying to rub it in (well maybe a little) but the real reason I stopped by was to just give some thoughts on the game..

After watching the game and then switching over to On the Fly on NHL Network and hearing the comments there I have to say I fully agree.. what they said was that the Lightning didn’t stand a chance in some ways against the Panthers PP tonight and the reason why is because it looked different everytime they were out there so there was no real way to adjust to it or pick up what exactly the game plan was. Kevin Weekes said even after watching the replays a few times he still wouldn’t even know how to explain to defend it because it constantly changed.

Another thought was on Roloson after seeing past games and this one tonight I’m kind of wondering if maybe with his age he is in fact wearing down a bit. Sure he’ll bounce back I don’t doubt that and I’m almost certain it will happen, but the real question is when? I say give Garon more time and see how it goes, he played well on saturday.

Penalties.. Yeah a lot of things were called but over the past 5 or so seasons the refs have never favored the Panthers in anyway whatsoever so I’d like to think I can trust their judgement in this game and the calls they made which only leads me to say that.. Bolts got to be aware of things better and take less penalties or it’s definitely going to bite them in the ass.

by Rob PKane McMahon on Oct 18, 2011 3:24 AM EDT reply actions

gotta love when SBNation does that double posting nonsense

by Rob PKane McMahon on Oct 18, 2011 3:26 AM EDT up reply actions

literally sickening performance

by tampa_edski on Oct 18, 2011 7:29 AM EDT reply actions

That, boys and girls, is what happens if you only play 15 minutes in the midst of a 60-minute game.

When the Bolts were on, they looked really good—though there was still no evidence of the 1-3-1, except for about 2 minutes after Vinny’s goal.

Hedman and Bergeron were the best players out there, and that’s saying something. After watching the team in person last night, John’s quote is spot on:

But watching tonight, I thought Downie was more of a liability out there than he was an asset. Especially leading to goal #6 by the kitties. Ryan Malone’s been heckled by Guy Boucher for not going full out during practice…Of course, Purcell is the one who got benched, and Ryan Shannon as well.

Enough about the ugliness.

The Forum looks great—and I love the organ. The 100-level concourse does feel more open, though I was expecting more renovation (or new) with the concessionaires, but they are all the same. The party deck proved to be a popular place pre- and post-game, as it will all season, I’m sure. The open concourses in the corners proved also to be a popular place for people to stand and watch the game—as was the bar area next to the organ.

I was, to be honest, underwhelmed by the opening. I thought last year’s pre-game presentation was fabulous—on-ice projection and animation, the whole bit. Last night? Nothing. Spotlights randomly shining around the arena, but nothing flashy—disappointing considering it’s the home opener.

Well, on to Thursday. Hope the team pulls its collective head out—or else this will be a long opening week.

"The Revolution will be complete when the language is perfect"
- Smith in Orwell's 1984

by MTBoltFan on Oct 18, 2011 8:15 AM EDT reply actions

What exactly was Downie doing

on that 6th goal. It looked like he just figured the defense would come up with puck so he just drifted off to readjust something with his helmet or chinstrap.
I don’t know why he was back out there again for the most part with the first line. He is not a good fit for that line.
Lousy game. Brewer took over for Kubina as the worst defensemen against the Panthers. It looks like something is wrong with him, he was not going full speed.
I expected Roli to bounce back. Yikes. He was lucky he didn’t get beat for a third time to the short side. His reaction time is extremely slow this year and he just isn’t getting into position. That’s what happens when you are constantly on your knees. How many more pucks need to fly over his shoulder before he stands up to a few shots.

by malapraxis on Oct 18, 2011 9:33 AM EDT up reply actions

He’s not constantly on his knees. He hasn’t played like that in years. He works on his skates frequently.

R.I.P. Belak, Rypien, Boogaard, Lokomotiv.
Even bears must face this fact: we're nothing without Rinne.--Grizzledbear, 10/9/2011
Part Predator, part Lightning.

by CAustin on Oct 18, 2011 3:29 PM EDT up reply actions

For all you goalie geeks

Jaime McClennan has an excellent break-down on TSN of Roli’s game last night.

Video is here.

"The Revolution will be complete when the language is perfect"
- Smith in Orwell's 1984

by MTBoltFan on Oct 18, 2011 8:28 AM EDT reply actions

I know who you’re talking about. You’re not fooling anyone. :P

R.I.P. Belak, Rypien, Boogaard, Lokomotiv.
Even bears must face this fact: we're nothing without Rinne.--Grizzledbear, 10/9/2011
Part Predator, part Lightning.

by CAustin on Oct 18, 2011 8:28 AM EDT up reply actions

Sorry. I’ll be better about disguising that in the future. :-)

"The Revolution will be complete when the language is perfect"
- Smith in Orwell's 1984

by MTBoltFan on Oct 18, 2011 8:50 AM EDT up reply actions

On at least one of those goals he lost his post. He just lost track of where he was in relation to the net and left too much space. It could have happened on more than one.

I missed a lot of the last part of the game, but from what I saw in the 1st and 2nd, he had some improvement over earlier in the week. There were more routine saves made well, and he was very controlled. Where he couldn’t freeze or cover the puck when he wanted to in the Caps game, last night he was able to get that done. But then by the end of the game, when I checked back in, he just looked tired. So, flashes of improvement that weren’t sustained over a 60-minute game.

But then, none of the Bolts sustained anything over the entire 60-minutes, so at least he’s got company.

R.I.P. Belak, Rypien, Boogaard, Lokomotiv.
Even bears must face this fact: we're nothing without Rinne.--Grizzledbear, 10/9/2011
Part Predator, part Lightning.

by CAustin on Oct 18, 2011 8:45 AM EDT up reply actions

I would say he lost his post on more than one goal. What’s more, I think what McClennan insinuates is accurate: there’s something about his glove hand right now. I can’t remember a goal that wasn’t on his glove side last night—though there very well could have been.

"The Revolution will be complete when the language is perfect"
- Smith in Orwell's 1984

by MTBoltFan on Oct 18, 2011 8:56 AM EDT up reply actions

I don’t like to speculate given that I really didn’t see the whole game, just bits and pieces. But yeah, it was tight to his body and a little low. And I think—though I’m not sure—that one of the later ones was five-hole. I remember thinking, “If you held your stick like Garon does, you’d have gotten that.” But to be honest, I wasn’t paying all that much attention for a while there.

R.I.P. Belak, Rypien, Boogaard, Lokomotiv.
Even bears must face this fact: we're nothing without Rinne.--Grizzledbear, 10/9/2011
Part Predator, part Lightning.

by CAustin on Oct 18, 2011 3:27 PM EDT up reply actions

and that one goal would have made a difference?

they are are stinking the joint up now. I just listened to 13 minutes of Boucher’s calm talk, but frankly I’m not sure he’s got the answers. So many things are not going right:

Goalies (well, mainly Roloson) are weak
D-Men absent from the point often
NO FORECHECK
NO BACKCHECK
Poor attemps at clearing the defensive zone
Bad luck on break-aways (or is just poor skill/execution?)
Penalties (yeah, I know that’s obvious)
Disorganized PP

How does a team address all of that at one time? They have to try and adress it all at once, because they don’t have the luxury of taking it one piece at a time. I often feel that there is a fine line between winning and getting your doors blown out in any sport, but the Lightning have not looked close in the 5 games I’ve seen (missed opening night):

Boston just outworked us (we were tied for what? 1:30?)

Caps game was sloppy all around, but the lead was surrendered really late, the shootout was horrible

The 1st period against the Islanders was so bad, I don’t care how much better they played for the last 2, and it still seemed loose

Pathers game in Sunrise had a point salvaged by MAB getting his groove on. No one else seemed to have any fire, well Garon played well

Home opener against the Panthers was just atrocious – Boucher seems to think they were OK for the 1st, but I was seeing a lot of slop right from the start.

There has been so little good to grasp, so much bad to worry about. MSL – where is he? Is Ohlund THAT important to the D? Roli – what is up? Downie – what happened to control? What good is Ryan Malone? This is 3/4 of the same team that almost got to the finals. It’s bewildering that they look so different starting the season. Until I see an entire game of solid play (win or lose – that can be determined by dumb luck) I’m going to be VERY worried…

by tampa_edski on Oct 18, 2011 6:56 PM EDT up reply actions

and that one goal would have made a difference?

Of course not. I’m just talking goalie stuff with a friend.

R.I.P. Belak, Rypien, Boogaard, Lokomotiv.
Even bears must face this fact: we're nothing without Rinne.--Grizzledbear, 10/9/2011
Part Predator, part Lightning.

by CAustin on Oct 18, 2011 7:18 PM EDT up reply actions