From: wilson@cs.ucf.edu (tom wilson)
Subject: LIGHTNING NEWS: New Jersey vs. TB 12/18
Organization: University of Central Florida, Orlando
Date: Sun, 20 Dec 1992 10:09:41 GMT

NJ - 1 0 1 - 2
TB - 0 0 0 - 0

1 - NJ Stevens 7            14:44

2 - none

3 - NJ Lemieux 14 (Stastny) 19:32 (en)

Shots on goal: NJ  9-5-5--19
               TB 14-6-9--29
Power plays:   NJ 0 of 6
               TB 0 of 6
Goalies:       NJ Billington 10-4-1, 29 shots, 29 saves
               TB Bergeron 3-2-0, 18 shots, 17 saves
Attendance:    10,082

-----

Tampa Bay's expansion hockey team has established one fairly reliable trend
through 35 games: When the Lightning lose, it's usually close.

On Friday, in front of 10,082 at Expo Hall, inches decided their fate in a
2-0 loss to the New Jersey Devils.

A pass by New Jersey's Scott Stevens deflected off defenseman Joe Reekie's
stick, past goaltender J.C. Bergeron's right pad, off the left post and into
the net with 5:16 remaining in the opening period, and that was the difference
in a tight-checking defensive game.

New Jersey goaltender Craig Billington made the lead stand, turning aside 29
shots. It was Billington's second shutout of the season, and the first dealt
to the Lightning.

Three inches to the left on Reekie's redirection, and the Lightning may have
been locked in a scoreless game deep into the third period. Instead, Tampa
pulled Bergeron for an extra attacker in the final minute, and Claude Lemieux
put the game on ice, flipping the puck into an empty net with 28 seconds
remaining.

Tampa (13-20-2) dominated the early action, outshooting New Jersey, 13-3,
through the game's first 14 minutes, but it was New Jersey that emerged with
a lead.

Stevens, the Devil's captain, crossed Tampa's blue line, played give-and-go
with Stephane Richer near the left boards, and then attempted a cross-ice
pass to Peter Stastny, who was cutting toward the right post.

The puck never got there, caroming off Reekie's stick and past Bergeron, who
anticipated Stastny would be tipping a shot toward the far post. Bergeron
did not have enough time to adjust.

"Usually in a game like this," New Jersey coach Herb Brooks said, "the winning
goal isn't a highlight film."

It wasn't, but New Jersey (16-14-1) avoided slipping to .500 this season for
the first time since being 1-1-0. For Tampa, the loss snapped a three-game
winning streak and prevented the Lightning from taking fourth place in the
Norris Division. Tampa is tied with Toronto with 28 points.

"I thought Joe made a great play," Bergeron said of Stevens' goal. "A bounce
of the puck sometimes makes the difference. It's just another game, and you
have to go on, but it's frustrating to lose like that."

Bergeron had 18 saves.

Tampa had its chances offensively but came up empty on six power plays against
the Devils, who rank fifth in the NHL in penalty killing. The Devils twice 
killed off 5-on-3 situations.

"It's a huge win for us," said Stevens, a defenseman who helps kill penalties
and moves to forward on the power play. "It makes the shutout more satisfying
knowing we killed off those penalties. We have a lot of confidence in front of
Craig. He's a pretty smart goaltender."

With three minutes left, Billington held the right post on a short shot by Adam
Creighton, who had received a flip pass from Chris Kontos from behind the net.
Fifty-one seconds remained when Billington stopped Mikael Andersson on a soft
shot from the slot, and the Devils cleared the rebound. It was Tampa's last
gasp.

"I got exactly what I thought I'd get from them tonight," Billington said of
the Lightning. "They're a hard-working hockey team, and I expected we'd get a
hard-fought game."

He got it. Unfortunately for Tampa, Billington handled it too.

Tom
Newsgroups: rec.sport.hockey