After all the change, the Tampa Bay Lightning finally took to the ice against the Atlanta Thrashers in front of a sellout crowd Saturday night at the St. Pete Times forum to open up their 2010-11 campaign. While there were a few bumps along the way, they did not disappoint, beating Atlanta 5-3.
The Lightning were all over the Thrashers in the early going with a forecheck for which the Thrashers had no answer. Steve Downie opened the scoring for the Lightning, notching his first goal of the year 5:23 into the game. Newcomer Dominic Moore extended the the lead with his first goal in a Lightning uniform.
The Lightning came out of the first intermission leading 2-0 when Tobias Enstrom got sent off for tripping, and Vincent Lecavalier made Atlanta pay with a rocket of a shot from the point, giving the Lightning a three-goal lead. It was encouraging to see Lecavalier hit the score sheet right out of the gate, and on a more-than-impressive shot. Steven Stamkos got in on the act, getting a tip in front to give the Lightning what appeared to be an insurmountable lead.
That's when the officiating crew of Chris Rooney and Francois St. Laurent decided to get creative with the whistle, sending off Dominic Moore on a questionable goalie interference call, with the Lightning already down a man. Tobias Enstrom scored the first of three consecutive goals for the Thrashers, getting them right back into the game. Steven Stamkos eventually put the game away for good, with a tip in front on a Randy Jones shot to re-establish a two goal lead, and eventually put the game away for the Lightning.
"We are obviously going to be proud of the win in front of the home fans tonight," Stamkos said. "It's a good way to start the season, but we do need to get better, that's only game one."
For Lightning head coach Guy Boucher, the result was a mixed bag. "It feels good [to get the win]," Boucher said. "Not the way we would have liked to progress in the second period. I think we did outstanding before we started taking those penalties. I don't think we managed the game well in the second period, we gave them life and we paid for it later on.
"We have to manage the game when its 4-0," Boucher said. "The first thing is that we take care of our sticks an not give the referees a chance to give us that penalty."
Three Stars of the Game
3. Vincent Lecavalier-Played the point on the power play well, and threw his weight around a bit.
2. Steve Downie-All over the ice tonight, was a physical force and was rewarded with the first goal of the year.
1. Steven Stamkos-Going to the slot to get those deflections were a key to him hitting the score sheet tonight. A three-point game is a good way to come out of the gate.
This article appears in Oct 7-13, 2010.