Vaclav Signs, Bolts tie Isles

(Tampa) - Tonight Vaclav Prospal made his season debut after a contract squabble that left him sitting at home for the 1st 23 games. In Long Island, the Bolts took their sorry 5 game slide and with a pretty good effort, erned a 3-3 tie with the very hot Islanders. Prospal signed a new 3 year deal worth 3.2 million a year for the Bolts and will spend some time on the 2nd line, hopefully adding some scoring to the second unit. With the signing of Vaclav, Olivier Morin was released to make room under the cap for him.

Game night
Tonight the Bolts had a different line up with Prospal in and the 1st line wingers playing on the 4th with Cullen. The Games was a very even game with both clubs getting 25 shots each. Hurme and Aebischer both played strong when the teams tried to get a big lead and in the end, they played to a very even 3-3 tie.

1st Period
In the first, Sakic got the scoring rolling when he took a feed from Hossa and one timed a shot pass Jani Hurme. It was a powerplay goal and at 5:39 in the 1st, the Isles lead 1-0. 9 minutes later, the Lightning struck on a power play of their own when Steve Sullivan scored his 5th of the year. Brewer passed the puck into the corner to Savard and with Zubov trying to get to Savard, Marc passed the puck to a wide open Sullivan who tucked the puck under the cross bar pass Aebischer. With Timonen still serving his second part of his double minor penalty, Hossa blocked a point shot from Kubina and broke in all alone on Hurme. He made one move and cut back to put the puck into an empty net for a short handed goal and giving the Isles a 2-1 lead before the period was over.

2nd Period
In the second period, the two teams continued their very defensive play and the shots reflected this with a 8-7 advantage for the Isles. But it was the Lightning that got the only goal of the period when Sullivan got his second of the night, as he tipped a shot from Vaananen which seemed to trickle between the pads of Aebischer. After 2 periods, the score was even at 2. In the second period, the Lightning lost 2 players to injuries as Webb ran Kubina from behind and hurt the star Dman. Kubina is expected to miss about a week after the dirty hit. Brewer was cross checked in the back of the neck and left the game to get x-rays. Brewer isn't expected to miss anytime but Gm Sprackman wasn't happy with the tactics the Islanders seemed to take in the second period.

3rd Period
The Islanders seemed to clamp down more in the period and with the Lightning missing 2 of its top 4 D, the recipe was there for the Islanders to score. At thr 5:04 mark of the 3rd period, Marian Hossa tipped in a shot from the point as Zubov let the blast go. The puck shot up and under the cross bar for a 3-2 lead. It seemed the Isles would win this on that goal but with less then 3 minutes left, the Lightning got a goal from Calder to even the game. The goal was a scramble as the puck was dumped into the corner, Hejduk raced in and threw it out front where it bounced off the defenders leg, right to Calder. He made no mistake and buried it into the open net.

OT
In OT, the Lightning were the hungrier of the 2 as they try to get the win. They outplayed and outshot the Isles 4-0 but coud not get a puck pass Aebischer. The game ended 3-3 and both teams got a point.

It was a much better game for the Lightning but not the result they wanted. It is a building block for the team and hopefully they can build from this game.

The Lightning still are actively shopping for a winger and a Dman and the usual candidtaes are available for trade. Lemieux is till looking to go to a cup contender and so is Svehla. If Gm Sprackman can find a dance partner, a deal will be made but only if it makes sense for the club.