Tampa Bay Lightning coach Rick Tocchet: Team must work on puck possession to get more shots
By Damian Cristodero, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Friday, November 20, 2009
Sharp goaltending by Mike Smith, making a save against Phoenix on Monday, and Antero Niittymaki have helped the Lightning win despite being outshot in 13 of 14 games entering Thursday.
ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Lightning entered Thursday on a 4-0-2 streak and with points in 10 of 11 games. But it also had been outshot in eight straight and 13 of 14.
"It's absolutely puck possession," coach Rick Tocchet said. "It's position. It's attitude. You put those three things together, you're going to get shots.
"If you're a perimeter guy who's just waiting around for the puck, you might as well wait all day. But if you actually want the puck, retrieve the puck and get to those areas, you should be able to get quite a few shots."
Tampa Bay had been outshot 577-491, an average of 32.1-27.3 per game, and outshot in every period: 191-150 in the first, 198-172 in the second, 164-151 in the third and 24-18 in overtime.
The team had 35 shots in its previous 31 power-play chances.
"We're not playing out best hockey, but it's great we're finding ways to win without getting many shots," C Steven Stamkos said. "Our goaltenders are playing great. We just have to step it up offensively."
"Guys going to the net; guys going in the slot and staying in the slot," Tocchet said. "We've got to find guys who are willing to do that consistently. You cannot win in this league being a perimeter player, you cannot."
OHLUND SITS: He is out of a walking boot, but D Mattias Ohlund (right ankle) sat out a second straight game, and it is unclear if he will play in the road trip's final two games.
"We're definitely going to err on the side of caution with him," Tocchet said. "I don't want him aggravating it. We want him as close to 100 percent as possible."
Recalling last season's injuries, Tocchet added, "I've seen enough of those walking boots. There's a store in Tampa Bay somewhere."
ARTY'S STILL LEARNING: Ducks RW Evgeny Artyukhin faced his former team for the first time with many of the same issues he had with Tampa Bay.
Artyukhin had 25 penalty minutes in his first 16 games while averaging 8:27 of ice time.
"He's a player who can never take his hand off a stick in the offensive zone to check," Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said. "He should always play with two hands on his stick, because no matter what he does, he seems to be in the box for it."
Artyukhin, traded for W Drew Miller and a 2010 third-round draft pick, said he always will appreciate his time with the Lightning.
"It was my first team," he said. "It felt like home."
FIRST MOVE: Last season's game in Anaheim was the first in which Stamkos, then a rookie, was scratched as part of a process to make him a smarter, stronger player.
Stamkos, who entered Thursday with a team-best 13 goals, is one of the league's top young players. "We put a lot of pressure on him with expectations," Tocchet said. "We had to take a step back."
ODDS AND ENDS: Assistant coach Wes Walz (stomach flu) was not at the game. … Attorney W. Edwards Muniz and Emory College student Emily Fedeles, both of Tampa, were at the game as winners of a Lightning-sponsored contest that includes meeting Charlie Sheen of the television show Two and a Half Men, produced by co-owner Oren Koules.
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