Sunday, April 25, 2004
Vinny, Part Deux.
Vinny Lecavalier scores two goals to lead the Lightning to a playoff win over Montreal at the St. Pete Times Forum. Wait...that was Friday night's game.
Or was it?
Perhaps Vinny's visor should be tinted red, white and blue, so he thinks he's always playing Les Habitants. The inspired Lecavalier scored twice again today, including a back-breaking breakway goal with 2.4 seconds left in the second period, to lead the Bolts to a 3-1 win and 2-0 series lead going back to Montreal.
Les Habs came out determined to throw their weight around today, but all it got them was a 2-man disadvantage in the first four minutes, which the Lightning and Lecavalier (on a rebound after an unbelievable Jose Theodore save on Martin St. Louis) made them pay for. Minutes later, Freddy Modin bulled his way past Theodore to knock home a loose puck in the crease to make it 2-0, and it looked like the fourth period of Friday night's domination.
The tide then turned late in the first, when Modin was called for a highly questionable "closing his hand on the puck" penalty when he knocked down an airborne puck in the Montreal zone. Guys are getting high-sticked, cross-checked and otherwise pounded, but the ref has to call this. Anyway, with the Modin penalty about to expire, Saku Koivu finally got Montreal on the board, and from that point through virtually all of the second period, it was all Montreal. But Khabibulin came up big time after time, and when Cory Sarich banked a clearance after Sheldon Souray coughed up the puck at the Lightning blue line, Vinny was there to swoop in on Theodore on a breakaway, lighting the lamp with 2.4 seconds to go.
Demoralized, Montreal couldn't sustain the same level of pressure in the third, and the Lightning were never seriously in trouble from that point on. The series now goes to the Bell Centre in Montreal for Game 3 Tuesday night, an obvious must-win for the Habs. Although the Lightning's playoff history can be summarized in a pamphlet rather than a book, one daunting fact for Montreal is that the Bolts are 4-0 all-time in Game 3 of the playoffs. Not to mention having one of the league's best records on the road, with 22 regular season road wins plus two more on Long Island in Round 1. It's not in the bag yet, but the bag has been opened up.
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Or was it?
Perhaps Vinny's visor should be tinted red, white and blue, so he thinks he's always playing Les Habitants. The inspired Lecavalier scored twice again today, including a back-breaking breakway goal with 2.4 seconds left in the second period, to lead the Bolts to a 3-1 win and 2-0 series lead going back to Montreal.
Les Habs came out determined to throw their weight around today, but all it got them was a 2-man disadvantage in the first four minutes, which the Lightning and Lecavalier (on a rebound after an unbelievable Jose Theodore save on Martin St. Louis) made them pay for. Minutes later, Freddy Modin bulled his way past Theodore to knock home a loose puck in the crease to make it 2-0, and it looked like the fourth period of Friday night's domination.
The tide then turned late in the first, when Modin was called for a highly questionable "closing his hand on the puck" penalty when he knocked down an airborne puck in the Montreal zone. Guys are getting high-sticked, cross-checked and otherwise pounded, but the ref has to call this. Anyway, with the Modin penalty about to expire, Saku Koivu finally got Montreal on the board, and from that point through virtually all of the second period, it was all Montreal. But Khabibulin came up big time after time, and when Cory Sarich banked a clearance after Sheldon Souray coughed up the puck at the Lightning blue line, Vinny was there to swoop in on Theodore on a breakaway, lighting the lamp with 2.4 seconds to go.
Demoralized, Montreal couldn't sustain the same level of pressure in the third, and the Lightning were never seriously in trouble from that point on. The series now goes to the Bell Centre in Montreal for Game 3 Tuesday night, an obvious must-win for the Habs. Although the Lightning's playoff history can be summarized in a pamphlet rather than a book, one daunting fact for Montreal is that the Bolts are 4-0 all-time in Game 3 of the playoffs. Not to mention having one of the league's best records on the road, with 22 regular season road wins plus two more on Long Island in Round 1. It's not in the bag yet, but the bag has been opened up.
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