Stars can’t hold lead, fall 4-2 to Lightning

Tuesday, January 20, 2009-12:46:am
/Andrew's Dallas Stars Page                            

Brad Richards scored one goal and assisted on another in his return to Tampa Bay Monday night, but it wasn't enough to help the Dallas Stars win, or even get a point. Richards' good buddy Vincent Lecavalier made sure of that. Lecavalier scored two goals, including the game-winner with 5:06 remaining as the Lightning beat the Stars  4-2.

It was a disappointing loss for Richards and the Stars, who had a 2-1 lead going into the third period but watched as Tampa Bay rallied to win the game.

"I had fun out there until five minutes left in the third," said Richards, who was playing in Tampa Bay for the first time since last season's trade to the Stars. "Obviously, it was a bad ending. It was a fun time to come back, but the bigger picture is that we really wanted to win the game, not just because it's them but we need points right now, and we threw them away again when we had a lead."

It was the third straight game the Stars had a lead in the third period, but were unable to hold it. They picked up three points in the other two games, but there were no points on this night.

"It should have never got to 2-2," Stars coach Dave Tippett said. "We made two or three errors in our end that got them the tying goal."

The Stars have been outscored 52-31 in third periods this season. After the game the Stars held a team meeting.

"That's not Dallas Stars hockey," said defenseman Stephane Robidas. "The Dallas Stars are known to be a team that plays good with the lead. Obviously you don't want to take chances, but you just can't sit back and relax and think everything is going to be OK."

Another issue for the Stars Monday night was the power play. On its first chance both teams scored - Lecavalier shorthanded for the Lightning 1:13 into the game and Richards for the Stars just 20 seconds later.

After that the Stars missed on three more chances in the first period where they could have taken the lead. After they took a 2-1 lead in the second period they missed on two more chances where they could have extended the lead. They ended up 1-7 on the power play.

"If you get that many power plays and don't score, it's going to come back to haunt you," Tippett said. "They capitalized and we didn't."

Lecavalier, whose game-winner came on the power play, got the scoring started just 1:13 into the game with a shorthanded goal. After taking a pass from Martin St. Louis, he headed into the Dallas zone on a breakaway and beat Stars goalie Marty Turco through the five-hole.

Just 20 seconds later Richards answered when he broke into the Tampa zone, lost the puck briefly , got it back from Mark Parrish and beat Lightning goalie Mike Smith with a wrist shot with the Stars still on the power play.

The Stars took the lead early in the second on a two-on-rush that was set up by Richards and finished by Loui Eriksson, who took a pass from Mike Modano and roofed a shot over Tampa goalie Mike Smith.

The Lightning tried to pick up the pace in the third period and it paid off. Tampa tied the game with 8:14 when former Star Jussi Jokinen chipped the puck from behind the net to Steve Downie, whose pass to the front of the net was put past Turco by rookie Steven Stamkos.

"I wouldn't say it was a boring game, but there wasn't much action," said Tampa Bay coach Rick Tocchet. "That Stamkos goal got everybody fired up, the crowd into it and then they took a penalty."

That penalty, a holding call on Matt Niskanen a little more than two minutes after the Lightning tied the game, gave Tampa Bay just its second power play of the game. Lecavalier delivered. After taking a cross-ice pass from Cory Murphy, Lecavalier blasted the puck into the net from the top of the right faceoff circle to give the Lightning a 3-2 lead.

"Vinny hit a rocket," said Tocchet. "That was a hell of a shot."

The win gave the Lightning an 8-5-1 record in their last 14 games.

"We couldn't get our rhythm until that second goal that [Stamkos] scored," Lecavalier said. "It seemed like we got our second wind. It was a weird game that was up for grabs. The chances that we got, we put them in."

The game also marked Smith's first game against his former team. Smith was traded to the Lightning in the deal that brought Richards to Dallas.

"This was one of the most mentally and emotionally draining games I think I've played, other than the one when I was traded here," said Smith, who made 23 saves. "It felt surreal out there. I was kind of nervous to start the game. We got the job done, and that's the most important thing."

Notes: Forwards Jussi Jokinen and Jeff Halpern, who also were traded from the Stars to the Lightning in last season's blockbuster trade, were in the lineup for Tampa Bay. Jokinen helped set up the game-tying goal and Halpern won 10 of 16 faceoffs for the Lightning. ... The Stars Monday placed RW Landon Wilson on injured reserve retroactive to January 3. ... Tampa forward Evgeny Artyukhin was suspended two games Monday for a knee-on-knee hit on Florida's Ville Peltonen. He missed Monday's game and will miss Tampa's game on Wednesday as well.