From: wilson@cs.ucf.edu (tom wilson)
Subject: LIGHTNING NEWS: TB vs. Hartford 12/23
Organization: University of Central Florida, Orlando
Date: Fri, 25 Dec 1992 08:33:38 GMT

TB  - 1 0 0 - 1
HAR - 0 3 0 - 3

1 - TB  Chambers 3   (Ramage, Kontos)  13:27 (pp)

2 - HAR Sanderson 16 (Yake, Craven)     2:13 (pp)
    HAR Poulin 10    (Yake, Zalapski)  15:47 (pp)
    HAR Poulin 11    (Craven, Verbeek) 17:52

3 - none

Shots on goal: TB  12-3-5--20
               HAR  8-9-5--22
Power plays:   TB  1 of 4
               HAR 2 of 6
Goalies:       TB  Jablonski 7-9-2, 22 shots, 19 saves
               HAR Burke 9-12-3, 20 shots, 19 saves
Attendance:    10,740

-----

* Whalers ease past Lightning, 3-1

Rookie Patrick Poulin scored twice in a 2:05 span of the second period, and
Sean Burke stopped 19 shots to help the Hartford Whalers beat Tampa, 3-1,
Wednesday night.

Poulin, who had seven goals in his last 10 games, had his second two-goals game
of the season. He broke a 1-1 tie with a power-play goal at 15:47 of the second
period and added his 10th of the season at 17:52.

Geoff Sanderson had his team-leading 16th goal for the Whalers, who extended
their home unbeaten streak to six games (4-0-2). Terry Yake and Murray Craven
each had two assists.

Burke, who stopped 11 shots in the first period, allowed only a power-play goal
by Shawn Chambers as he improved his record to 5-2-2 over his last nine games.
Burke's strong play has been a primary factor in Hartford's 8-7-2 record since
Nov. 18, including 3-1-2 over the last six games.

Tampa opened the scoring at 13:27 of the first period during a five-minute
power play awarded when Hartford rookie Robert Petrovicky high-sticked Marc
Bergevin. Chambers scored from the left point for a 1-0 advantage.

The Whalers used the power play to take control of the game in the second
period as Sanderson scored at 2:13 and Poulin at 15:47. In the previous eight
games, Hartford had converted just 4 of 48 man-advantage opportunities.

Sanderson finished a nice series of passes from Craven and Yake by scoring from
the right post to make it 1-1 at 2:13.

Poulin, assisted by Yake and Zarley Zalapski, ripped a blast through a screen
and past Pat Jablonski at 15:47, then wristed a 5-footer past Jablonski off a
feed from Craven.

The Lightning have won four of the last seven but are 5-14-0 since
mid-November.

The victory joined the growing list of other strong defensive efforts by
Hartford in recent games.

"We're making progress," said Whalers coach Paul Holmgren, "but we're playing
hard each night and better defensively."

Since getting beat, 9-3, by Buffalo on Dec. 13, Hartford has allowed only 14
goals over its last six games. The Whalers followed up a strong 5-2 victory
over Montreal on Monday with a steady game against the Lightning.

"We had some success on the power play and finished our chances," Holmgren
said. "Defensively, we didn't give up too much."

Craven, who had a pair of assists, felt the Whalers "are playing with more
confidence over the last 10 games or so. We're getting it rolling and everyone
is playing better."

Tampa coach Terry Crisp felt his club had its chance in the first period but
was turned back by Burke.

"We had heard he's playing well, and Sean Burke stood tall tonight," Crisp
said.

"We had a chance [on the 5-minute power play] in the first period to open a
lead," said Crisp, "but Burke kept us out of there."

Crisp felt that Jablonski played a strong game.

"You can't fault him for the goals they scored," Crisp said. "He played a solid
game for us."

The Lightning will be off until Dec. 31 against host Chicago. They do not play
at home until Jan. 16.

Tom
Newsgroups: rec.sport.hockey