Shootout Drought

The RBC Center has not been kind to the Lightning

The Tampa Bay Lightning are ridiculously inept in shootouts. Tuomo Ruutu netted the goal to clinch the shootout victory for the Carolina Hurricanes after former Bolt Jussi Jokinen scored his team’s only goal in regulation as the ‘Canes won 2-1 Tuesday night, extending the Lightning’s RBC Center losing streak to seven games.

Carolina’s Sergei Samsonov started the shootout by beating goalie Mike Smith, wrapping the puck around him. Earlier, Hurricane goaltender Cam Ward stopped the Lightning’s Martin St. Louis after Vincent Lecavalier hit the post.

The Lightning lost ten of thirteen shootouts last season and this disturbing trend continued into last night.

“It’s a little mental right now,” said Lightning coach Rick Tocchet. “It was the second game of the year. It’s one of those things where you have to stick with it. You’ve just got to free your mind. It’s you against the goalie, that’s all it is. It’s tough when you’re in a rut.”

Many will blame the Bolts’ loss on bad bounces or missed chances, but what I saw was a lack of concentration at times and their inability to finish. The power play was a dismal one for eight and the Hurricanes goal was scored while the Bolts were on the penalty kill. Forward Steve Downie had a wide-open net to shoot at, late in the game but couldn’t bury the puck. Goalie Mike Smith, who was horrible in the opener, was solid in net but made three mental errors that were inexcusable. He gave away the puck twice, resulting in scoring chances for the Hurricanes and let his emotions get to him as he got a roughing minor when he put Stephane Yelle in a headlock after the Carolina forward slightly bumped up against him.

The Lightning out shot their opponent for the second straight time and put forth a good effort all night.

Carolina continued its dominance over the Bolts by winning their seventh in a row against them. Last year the Hurricanes were 6-0 against Tampa Bay.

The Lightning’s lone goal came on a 5-on-3 at six minutes of the second period, as Ryan Malone batted in a rebound of Steven Stamkos‘ shot.

Defenseman Andrej Meszaros played in his 300th NHL game, while netminder Mike Smith was playing in his 100th. The teams will meet again in Tampa on Saturday night.

The Bolts open at the St. Pete Times Forum against Martin Brodeur and the New Jersey Devils on Thursday night.

RBC Center photograph courtesy of captainslack.