Atlanta, GA (Sports Network) - Vincent Lecavalier scored the lone goal of
the shootout and Marc Denis stopped all three Atlanta shooters as Tampa Bay
beat the Thrashers 3-2 in the season opener for both clubs.
Ryan Craig scored both regulation goals for the Lightning, while Denis
finished with nine saves.
Scott Mellanby and Marian Hossa each scored for the Thrashers. Goaltender Kari
Lehtonen made 24 saves.
"I was really disappointed," said Mellanby. "We were really prepared. I
thought we came out and had them on their heals. We were pressing a bit too
much and began to run around. They've got a lot of experience with guys who've
won a Stanley Cup."
Faced with a 2-0 deficit after the first period, Tampa got goals from Craig in
the second and third periods to force overtime.
Just over four minutes into the second period, Craig deflected Brad Richards'
shot on net past Lehtonen to put the Lightning on the scoreboard.
Then, 2:18 into the third period, Nikita Alexeev passed the puck to Craig in
front of the net and he kicked it to the right of Lehtonen before scoring to
even the score at 2-2.
After a scoreless overtime period that saw both teams kill off a penalty, the
game went to a shootout.
Slava Kozlov shot first for the Thrashers, but his backhander was stopped by
Denis.
Lecavalier then put Tampa up 1-0 when he beat Lehtonen top shelf and Denis
took care of the rest, stopping both Jon Sim and Ilya Kovalchuk.
The Thrashers grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first period courtesy of power play
goals from Mellanby and Hossa.
Just under seven minutes, Alexeev was whistled for hooking and Atlanta quickly
took advantage on the preceding faceoff. Hossa collected the puck along the
right boards and sent it in front of the net to Mellanby, who chipped it past
Denis with 12:42 left in the period.
Then, while on a 5-on-3 later in the period, Steve McCarthy fed the puck down
low to Mellanby. The Thrashers captain promptly sent the puck across the
crease to Hossa and he fired top-shelf to beat Denis with 7:18 left in the
period.
"In the first period, nothing was going right," said Tampa head coach John
Tortorella. "They just stayed with it. Everybody contributed tonight. I
thought we played really well away from the puck."
