Tarnasky, Nick

Lightning enter All-Star break with a thud.

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Johan Holmqvist allowed 3 goals on 14 shots in the first period before being pulled for Karri Ramo who allowed 5 goals on 12 shots the rest of the way to take the loss.

First Period
Ottawa 13:43, Daniel Alfredsson 30 (Antoine Vermette)
Ottawa 14:12, Jason Spezza 17 (Randy Robitaille, Daniel Alfredsson)
Ottawa 18:41, Daniel Alfredsson 31 (power play) (Jason Spezza, Andrej Meszaros)

Second Period
Ottawa 4:38, Daniel Alfredsson 32 (shorthanded) (Mike Fisher)
Ottawa 9:36, Antoine Vermette 11 (Daniel Alfredsson, Wade Redden)
Tampa Bay 13:51, Dan Boyle 1 (unassisted)

Third Period
Ottawa 1:39, Randy Robitaille 8 (Daniel Alfredsson)
Tampa Bay 1:59, Nick Tarnasky 4 (Brad Lukowich)
Ottawa 3:58, Dean McAmmond 6 (Chris Neil, Mike Fisher)
Tampa Bay 5:07, Craig MacDonald 2 (Andre Roy, Nick Tarnasky)
Tampa Bay 15:17, Dan Boyle 2 (Paul Ranger, Martin St. Louis)
Ottawa 16:33, Jason Spezza 18 (Andrej Meszaros, Wade Redden)

The good news is the Lightning got Dan Boyle back from injury and he promptly potted a pair of goals.

Plaudits for Nick Tarnasky's 1 goal and 1 assist.

Box score and extended statistics from NHL.com.

The Pussy Cats FEAR #74.

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Johan Holmqvist allowed 3 goals on 30 shots for the win.

First Period
Florida 0:38, Olli Jokinen 21 (Bryan Allen)
Tampa Bay 10:39, Nick Tarnasky 2 (Craig MacDonald, Mathieu Darche)

Second Period
Tampa Bay 2:00, Jan Hlavac 7 (Jason Ward, Chris Gratton)
Tampa Bay 3:06, Nick Tarnasky 3 (Shane O'Brien, Craig MacDonald)

Third Period
Tampa Bay 9:15, Brad Richards 12 (Vaclav Prospal, Martin St. Louis)
Florida 14:59, David Booth 11 (Jassen Cullimore, Stephen Weiss)
Florida 18:31, Brett McLean 4 (Magnus Johansson, Jay Bouwmeester)
Tampa Bay 19:44, Brad Richards 13 (empty net) (Martin St. Louis)

#74 got out of the press box and popped in 2 goals. THAT is how you respond to being scratched. Very nice. I'm happy for 'nasty.

Mathieu Darche had an assist and was +2 in 11:08 with 1 shot and 2 hits. I think Torts is finally starting to zero in on where the sweet spots are in terms of ice time for the checking liners. It's a shame it took until January to get here.

Box score and extended statistics from NHL.com.

What gives HF? Seriously.

Look, we're long past the point of expecting anything resembling objectivity considering one of your top writers was once quoted as claiming Blair Jones was "trash" because he was a 4th round pick, but can you guys at least acknowledge that Mike Lundin (another 4th round pick, so I guess that makes him "trash" too) has made the NHL? Is that really too much to ask?

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

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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)