The Tampa Bay Lightning only had to dig into their short-term memories for motivation for Saturday night’s game against the Ottawa Senators. It was just over a week ago that the Lightning lost to this same Senators team after starting the game flat. This time around, the start was not the issue; it was the finish that will leave a bad taste in head coach Guy Boucher's mouth.
The Lightning opened up the game in almost perfect fashion, jumping all over Senators in the early going. It would only result in one goal though, when Nate Thompson found Vincent Lecavalier to send him in on a breakaway. Lecavalier beat Curtis McElhinney to give the Lightning the early lead. It was the only goal the Lightning would get in that frame and that would be a big turning point as the game moved along. The Lightning out-shot Ottawa 13-3 in the frame.
This article appears in Mar 17-23, 2011.