The Tampa Bay Lightning showed they can play defense even on nights when it takes time to show off their flash and dash.
They've evened the Stanley Cup final because they did.
Ruslan Fedotenko ended Calgary's 10-game first-period shutout streak with a goal and the Lightning won what their captain called a must-win game, beating the Flames 4-1 on Thursday night.
PHOTO: AFP
Game 3 is tonight in Calgary, where the Flames are only 4-5. Tampa Bay is 5-2 on the road, but has lost its last two.
The Lightning capitalized on a deficient Calgary power play -- 0-for-5 in the first two periods -- and their own patience to break the game open with goals by Brad Richards, Dan Boyle and Martin St. Louis in the first six minutes of the third period.
Dave Andreychuk, the 40-year Tampa Bay captain who finally reached the Stanley Cup final in his 22nd NHL season, assisted on Richards' and St. Louis' goals in a game he said the Lightning absolutely could not lose. And they didn't.
Boyle's goal, off Richards' assist, came only about 48 hours after his Tampa house sustained US$300,000 damage in a fire that broke out late in Game 1. Boyle acknowledged being shaken up by the fire and seemed concerned about regaining his focus in time for Game 2.
He shouldn't have worried, just as the Lightning need not have worried whether sometimes-shaky goalie Nikolai Khabibulin would rebound from a poor performance in Calgary's 4-1 victory in Game 1.
Khabibulin, looking far more confident than he did on Tuesday, had a shutout until Ville Nieminen scored midway through the third period. Khabibulin improved to 5-0 following a loss, allowing only five goals in those five games.
Calgary, sixth-seeded in the Western Conference and one of the most unexpected finalists in years, hoped to win its sixth straight on the road. Despite the final score, it had chances do it.
Miikka Kiprusoff kept it to 1-0 through two periods with a succession of key saves. But the Flames never got their forecheck going like they did in Game 1. They had no odd-man rushes and didn't create any scoring chances by turning the puck over in the neutral zone.
Fedotenko scored the most important goal, his seventh in nine games, just over seven minutes in. He took Jassen Cullimore's rebound and pushed it toward the net, then swept the puck past Kiprusoff as it lay in the crease. The play started when Vincent Lecavalier, the Lightning's best player most of the night, skated the puck out from behind the net.
That goal, Fedotenko's 10th, held until Kiprusoff gave up three in just over three minutes.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to