By Damian Cristodero, Times Staff Writer
Friday, April 29, 2011
Quote to note
"If (Goliath) is 6 foot 6, (David) is 6 foot 5 1/2. He's trying to not say anything in the paper, and he's doing a good job at it. But we know these are two evenly matched teams, and both teams know that they can win." — Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau, on Lightning coach Guy Boucher calling their series a David (Lightning) vs. Goliath (Capitals) matchup
Three stars
STEVE DOWNIE: The Lightning wing's goal, which tied the score at 2 at 16:17 of the second period, helped swing the momentum. He also had an assist.
STEVEN STAMKOS: The center scored a power-play goal with 32 seconds left in the second to give Tampa Bay the lead for good.
SEAN BERGENHEIM: The Lightning wing continued his strong postseason, scoring the game's first goal. He has four goals in the playoffs, each of which has either tied the score or put the Lightning ahead.
Number of the day
23:15 Average ice time, entering Friday, for Washington's Jeff Schultz, best in the league among defensemen who had not been on the ice for an opposition goal.
Tickets
Games 3, 4 and 6 at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa are sold out, but potentially unused team tickets might be released. Check periodically with Ticketmaster (outlets, ticketmaster.com, toll-free 1-800-745-300). Prices: $27-$120.
The series Lightning leads 1-0
Game 1: The line of Downie-Bergenheim-Moore comes up big again.
Game 2: at Washington, 7 Sunday
Game 3: at Tampa Bay, 6:30 Tuesday
Game 4: at Tampa Bay, 7 Wednesday
Game 5: at Washington, 12:30 May 7*
Game 6: at Tampa Bay, TBD May 9*
Game 7: at Washington, TBD May 11*
*—if necessary
TV: Game 2 on Versus; Games 3 and 4 on Sun Sports; Game 5 on Ch. 8; rest TBD
Radio: Games 3 and 4 on 970-AM; Game 2 on 620-AM; rest TBD
Hammer down
It did not take long for Lightning coach Guy Boucher to detect some lethargy in his players at Friday's morning skate. "You'd better wake up now," Boucher yelled. "If we wait till the second period, we're (in bad shape)." Asked about it later, Boucher said of the Capitals, "These guys are going to come out flying. They're on a mission; not that we're not on a mission, but we're learning how to make this a mission."
New prospects camp
The Lightning will not return to the Red Wings' prospect camp in Traverse City, Mich., next season. Instead, it will be part of a four-team camp run by the Panthers at their practice rink. The Thrashers and Predators also will participate in the Sept. 15-17 event at Saveology.com Iceplex in Coral Springs. "It's a new thing this year," Lightning assistant GM Julien BriseBois said. "It's more convenient than Traverse City. Logistically, it's a lot easier and cheaper." The main benefit, BriseBois said, is getting the prospects back to Tampa and the team's main training camp without wasting a day of travel. But also: "We hope to expose the game to as many people as possible, and that will pay dividends," BriseBois said.