From: wilson@cs.ucf.edu (tom wilson)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.hockey
Subject: Philly vs. Tampa 12/20 game notes
Date: 21 Dec 92 04:07:05 GMT
Organization: University of Central Florida, Orlando

TB took on Philly for the first time this year. The two teams met in the
preseason with TB winning the game. Beers and Cole are still out with injuries.
TB used 7 defenseman tonight adding Hamrlik to the line up and scratching
Drulia. In the last 10 games, TB has outshot the opposition in 9 of them.
Bergeron got the start again, allowing 13 goals in 5 games.

The lines were:

Maltais Bradley   Tucker          Hamrlik Bergevin
Kontos  Creighton Andersson       Crossman Ramage
Zamuner Kasper    Bureau          Chambers Taglianetti
Hartman DiMaio                    Reekie

The Lightning came out and delivered two hard hits on Lindros. Early in the
first, a TB player took a shot that Soderstrom saved and Tucker almost "tucked"
the rebound in. However, it was Philly that scored first. Lindros scored his
16th from Recchi at 6:49. TB has given up the first goal in 12 of its last 15
games. TB tied it up at 13:30 on a goal by Bradley from Tucker. The Philly
defenseman was tied up with Bradley, but spun off and took Soderstrom out of
the goal. Bradley kept his feet and the puck and spun around to the left of the
crease and backhanded the puck into a fairly empty net. The crazy-8's line
(Lindros, Recchi, and Fedyk) usually controlled the play when they were on
the ice, but it was usually all TB when they weren't. The period ended 1-1.
Shots were 10-7 in favor of TB. TB had 2 power plays and Philly none.

In the 2nd, Bradley tallied again from Hamrlik and Bergevin at 5:55 during a
4v4. A couple of times during the period, TB came down 2v2 and the player with
the puck faked the defenseman to go in alone. Bradley's goal was similar. He
split two defensmen and lost control but was able to reach out and poke the
puck to the near post as Soderstrom followed him to the far post. The puck
ticked Soderstrom's pad and went in off the post. Each team went 0 for 2 on the
power play. Shots were 21-16 in favor of TB. Kasper was starting to shut down
Lindros, shadowing him all over the ice. The period ended 2-1.

In the 3rd, TB scored early on a goal by Crossman from Kontos and Zamuner at
2:20. This was Crossman's 100th career goal. He talked during the 1st
intermission about trying to get the goal against his former team. TB
controlled the game the whole period. Philly couldn't maintain control for any
length of time. TB was only interested in playing D and not pressing
offensively. The did get the better chances though. Kasper was hounding Lindros
still and Lindros seemed frustrated. Kasper played with Philly earlier in the
year. More than 14 minutes into the period, Lindros took a shot from about 10
feet out that was blocked by a sliding defenseman. DiMaio picked the puck up
outside the blue line and hit Bureau over the red line. He went in on a
breakaway. He shot the puck past the helpless Soderstrom for TB's 4th goal at
14:48. No assist was given to the TB defensemen, but there should be. Bureau
had 0 goals in the first 16 games and now has 5 in the last 9.

4-1 was the final. TB played D like they did during the beginning of the year.
I think they held Philly under 20 shots. I don't think TB dominated play as
much as Philly could maintain any consistency. The crazy-8's line was
consistent in the first, but I think Kasper bothered Lindros. The 3 stars were
some crazy-B's 8-): 1-Bradley, 2-Bureau, 3-Bergeron.

TB now goes on a 2-game road trip to Boston and Hartford (ending a 6-game-in-
9-nights stretch) and then have a week off before hitting the road for 7 more
games. This long road trip is because the state fair will be held at the
State Fairgrounds, where Expo Hall is located. Basil McRae is still scheduled
to return against Chicago on 12/31.

Boston should bomb TB with shots like they typically do in the Boston Garden,
but TB is used to a small rink. I would say TB has a good chance to win in
Hartford, but they have started playing well for the first time all year.

Tom
Newsgroups: rec.sport.hockey