Game 19: New Jersey Devils at Tampa Bay Lightning

 
The New Jersey Devils ended a 6-game home winning streak for the Tampa Bay Lightning tonight, defeating them 4-2.

In a case of too little, too late, the Lightning finally ran into a deficit they couldn't overcome within the friendly confines of the St. Pete Times Forum. During their recent run of good fortune at home (the longest such streak for Tampa Bay since 2006), the Lightning emerged victorius after spotting opponents three and four goal leads. Unfortunately, against the Devils, a team renowned historically for not allowing opponents to make mistakes and get away with them, the task was too much.

The first period ended in a scorelss tie as both teams seemed to be cautiously sizing each other up. Danius Zubrus of the Devils opened the scoring at 1;)9 of the second on a wrist shot with help from Ryan Carter.They doubled the lead about five minutes later when Patrick Elias scored on the power play with assists from David Clarkson and Adam Larsson. They netted another power play goal at 17:44, this time from Clarkson with assists by Zach Parise and Adam Henrique to close the period up 3-0.

The Lightning finally got on the board when Martin St. Louis, with helpers by Ryan Shannon and Pavel Kubina, beat Devils netminder Martin Brodeur 8:54 of the third. When Shannon scored a minute and a half later, thanks to assists from Steve Downie and Eric Brewer, it looked like another comeback was in the offing. Unfortunately, Bolts goalie Dwayne Roloson misplayed a puck late in the game and coughed it up to Carter who buried it in the empty net to make the final score 4-2.

"It was an error on my part and it cost us the game." - Dwayne Roloson

To suggest the loss was entirely his fault, however, would be a mistake...

"No one player lost us the game tonight; not Roloson; no one. We win as a team and lose as a team and tonight we did not deserve the game. The game tonight was not about scoring. It was about keeping the momentum or giving us the momentum and not only did they make us lose our momentum, but they gave us more softness than we had before...This is exactly what we look like on the road. It is very disappointing for us to bring this type of play in our own home. We took dumb, soft and lazy penalties and this is the result that we get: a loss...We had some players show up tonight: Shannon, St. Louis, Downie and Connolly. But this game takes a full team effort and tonight we just didn’t have enough." --Lightning head coach Guy Boucher

"We didn’t do enough in front of him, especially early on, in the first period we had three shots. Our power-play’s got to get us the goal there—at least one." - Martin St. Louis

 The Lightning are back in action again on Tuesday when they will close out this current homestand against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Game notes:

• This was the first home game this season in which Steven Stamkos failed to score a point.
• Shannon's goal was his first as a member of the Lightning.
• With his goal in the second period, Elias is only four shy from tying John McLean as New Jersey's all-time goal scorer with 347.
• The Lightning honored Sister Anne Dougherty as tonight's Lightning Community Hero. As Graduate Support Director at Academy Prep, Dougherty serves with grace and humility as a mentor to students enrolled in the school, which provides a quality education and additional enrichment opportunities to kids living in low-income areas. Beginning in the late 1980s, Dougherty served as chaplain at St. Joseph’s Hospital, administering medicine to the sick and their families. Shortly after, through her work with the Francis House, she was one of few individuals at the time who openly embraced patients with AIDS, providing them with emotional support during a time in which they were often dismissed as members of a marginalized community. Recently, Dougherty donated one of her kidneys to a fellow Sister suffering from vital organ failure. The recipient, who also heads her own non-profit organization, now has the ability to continue her ministry as a result of Dougherty’s selfless act. In addition, apart from her service to Academy Prep, Dougherty is also a liaison for local law enforcement officers in her role as chaplain for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Tampa Police Department, and the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.
• Lightning players Eric Brewer, Ryan Malone, Brett Clark, Tom Pyatt and Nate Thompson will be at Metroploitan Ministries on Monday, November 21st at 1:30 p.m. to assist with collecting donations for the organization's annual holiday food drive. Metroploitan Ministries is located at 2002 North Florida Avenue in Tampa.