Lundin, Mike

We was robbed.

BUF-4
TB-3 (OT)

Johan Holmqvist stopped 22 of 26 in taking the overtime loss. The Lightning were the victims of two controversial calls/non calls in the game.

First Period
NO SCORING

Second Period
Tampa Bay 3:25, Vaclav Prospal 9 (Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis)
Tampa Bay 4:45, Michel Ouellet 2 (Chris Gratton, Mathieu Darche)
Buffalo 9:30, Maxim Afinogenov 2 (Thomas Vanek, Nathan Paetsch)
Buffalo 14:28, Paul Gaustad 3 (power play) (Tim Connolly, Brian Campbell)

Third Period
Tampa Bay 6:14, Vincent Lecavalier 5 (power play) (Martin St. Louis, Brad Richards)
Buffalo 13:13, Nathan Paetsch 1 (Jason Pominville, Jochen Hecht)

Overtime
Buffalo 4:19, Thomas Vanek 3 (unassisted)

Unforced errors cost the Lightning the game.

TB-3
WSH-5

Marc Denis allowed 4 goals on 28 shots in the loss.

First Period
Washington 6:33, Chris Clark 1 (Alexander Ovechkin)
Tampa Bay 16:40, Jason Ward 1 (Brad Richards, Paul Ranger)

Second Period
Washington 4:43, Dave Steckel 1 (Alexander Ovechkin, Viktor Kozlov)
Tampa Bay 7:27, Paul Ranger 1 (shorthanded) (Brad Richards, Jason Ward)
Washington 17:41, Brooks Laich 2 (Matt Pettinger, Shaone Morrisonn)
Washington 18:42, Chris Clark 2 (Brian Pothier, Michael Nylander)

Third Period
Tampa Bay 14:06, Martin St. Louis 2 (Vaclav Prospal, Mathieu Darche)
Washington 19:56, Alexander Ovechkin 5 (empty net) (Brian Pothier)

3-0-0 is a great start. However, I was not impressed with the team's play tonight.

FLA-1
TB-2

Make no mistake about it, Johan Holmqvist stole the win tonight with a 30 saves on 31 shots effort that included multiple odd man rushes and breakaways. He got the win despite the Lightning being outshot 31-23 by an inferior opponent.

First Period
Tampa Bay 9:03, Chris Gratton 1 (shorthanded) (Mathieu Darche, Jason Ward)

Second Period
Florida 4:04, Ville Peltonen 1 (Olli Jokinen, Cory Murphy)
Tampa Bay 10:36, Chris Gratton 2 (power play) (Paul Ranger, Michel Ouellet)

Third Period
NO SCORING

In the new era of the NHL where the salary cap reigns, it is imperative clubs find and develop their own talent through their farm system. Since the lockout in 2004-2005, the Lightning has been forced to compete to stay at the top of the food chain by carefully shopping for affordable free agents and coordinating financially-sensitive trades. While other clubs have had the option of plugging multiple holes with cost-feasible prospects, the Lightning has been forced to look outside the organizational depth chart for help.

Tomorrow's headline should read: "Paper Champions Get Folded Up".

ATL-2
TB-5

Johan Holmqvist barely had to break a sweat stopping 13 of 15 shots he faced for the win.

First Period
Tampa Bay 3:40, Vaclav Prospal 2 (Vincent Lecavalier, Paul Ranger)

Second Period
Atlanta 0:57, Marian Hossa 1 (unassisted)
Tampa Bay 14:38, Vaclav Prospal 3 (power play) (Martin St. Louis, Filip Kuba)
Tampa Bay 15:49, Brad Richards 1 (shorthanded) (unassisted)

Third Period
Tampa Bay 5:22, Vincent Lecavalier 3 (unassisted)
Atlanta 8:58, Slava Kozlov 1 (Tobias Enstrom, Todd White)