Tampa Bay Lightning

Game Recap

Friday, March 5, 2004
FINAL OT
2 - 3
FINAL OT 1 2 3 OT T
Devils 0 2 0 0 2
Lightning 1 0 1 1 3
GOAL SCORERS

NJD:   J. Madden (01:20 - 2nd) , J. Friesen (13:56 - 2nd)
TBL:   D. Afanasenkov (09:30 - 1st) , V. Lecavalier (19:50 - 3rd) , D. Andreychuk (02:17 - OT)
GOALIES

NJD: M. Brodeur (L)
 TBL: N. Khabibulin (W)
New Jersey Devils 2, Tampa Bay Lightning 3 FINAL OT
Associated Press

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) _ The Tampa Bay Lightning stole two points.

Dave Andreychuk scored with 2:43 left in overtime, and the Lightning set a franchise record with a seventh straight victory, 3-2 Friday night over the New Jersey Devils.

``We were definitely outplayed,'' Andreychuk said. ``We showed character to stay in the game. I think it's going to be a little wake-up call.''

Andreychuk scored on a backhander. It was his 15th goal of the season and 628th overall. Tampa Bay's Vincent Lecavalier tied the game with 9.6 seconds left in the regulation, beating Martin Brodeur on a wrist shot from the slot after Pavel Kubina split the defense at the blue line.

``It will be hard to swallow this one,'' Devils coach Pat Burns said. ``I don't know what to say. They didn't dominate us. They dominated us for a minute, 30 seconds.''

The Devils outshot Tampa Bay 32-22. The Lightning have the best record in the Eastern Conference.

``We get the two points and a lesson,'' Tampa Bay coach John Tortorella said. ``Right from the get-go, I don't think we were sharp mentally. We end up finding a way to win.''

Torrid Andreychuk has seven goals and 12 points during a seven-game point-scoring streak. Dmitry Afanasenkov also scored for the Lightning, and Nikolai Khabibulin turned aside 30 shots.

John Madden and Jeff Friesen had second-period goals for the Devils, losers in three of their last four games.

``They didn't really do much. I thought we took it to them real well,'' Brodeur said. ``Khabibulin made some great saves when the game was 2-1. If it were any other goalie, the game would have been over. They're a hot team right now.''

Afanasenkov put the Lightning up 1-0 from the low slot at 9:30 of the first period, snapping a 21-game goal-scoring drought.

Madden tied it at 1-all 1:20 into the second period. His first goal in 30 games came from along the goal line near the left wing boards.

Friesen made a nice move on Lightning defenseman Darryl Sydor and then gave the Devils a 2-1 lead on wrist shot from the right circle with 6:04 left in the second period.

Brodeur stopped Martin St. Louis on a short-handed breakaway late in the period. He finished with 19 saves.

``We played a pretty strong game, a pretty smart game,'' Devils defenseman Scott Niedermayer said. ``We made a little mistake and they made us pay for it.''


Three star selections
1st:   DAVE ANDREYCHUK
2nd:   VINCENT LECAVALIER
3rd:   JOHN MADDEN
Winning Goaltender
Nikolai Khabibulin

Losing Goaltender
Martin Brodeur