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NEW YORK (AP) -- Tampa Bay goalie Kevin Weekes has no trouble
getting up to play the New York Rangers.
|  | | Mike Johnson scored his second goal of the season as the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the N.Y. Rangers on Sunday. |
Weekes, who has both of the Lightning's wins this season, made
32 saves in a 4-2 victory over the Rangers 4-2 on Sunday night. He
beat the Rangers four times last season, twice with the Islanders
and twice with Vancouver.
"This is New York, Madison Square Garden, the biggest stage for
sports in the world," Weekes said. "It doesn't get any better
than this."
Fredrik Modin recorded his first career hat trick for Tampa Bay,
which lost 7-2 loss to the Devils on Saturday night.
"It was huge coming off that game last night," Modin said.
"That was the worst game of the season, it was really bad. We
talked about some stuff we needed to do tonight that we didn't do
last night. Getting the puck in deep and getting our forecheck
going, that's what created most of our chances. We tried to put the
loss behind us. Coach (Steve Ludzik) made sure that everyone
understood that we had to get back to basics."
Modin, who had 22 goals last season, was asked if this will
finally be his breakout season.
"I hope so. Every season I go into, I hope I'm going to score a
lot of goals. I'm trying to have a better season than last year,"
he said.
Weekes relieved Dan Cloutier in the third period of Tampa Bay's
loss to New Jersey and allowed no goals.
"In a lot of ways we dictated the tempo," he said. "We had a
lot of hits, forechecked well and had much better puck possession
than last night. We were all a little unsure how we'd respond
tonight."
"I think the big thing is Weekes," Ludzik said. "We really
need that goaltending until we can mature as a team. Like it or
not, we really need that big save."
Modin capped his hat trick at 13:20 of the third with his
seventh goal of the season, lifting a backhander past New York
goalie Mike Richter, who was making his season debut after
undergoing knee surgery on April 5.
"It felt good, but it wasn't good enough because we didn't
win," the 34-year-old Richter said. "I would've liked to have
those last two goals. I thought I tracked the puck better as the
game went on. I simply got more tired as the game went on, too."
Theoren Fleury pulled the Rangers to 3-2 at 7:20 of the third on
a 5-on-3 power play with a slap shot from the right faceoff circle
for his team-leading fifth goal.
"I thought he (Richter) played really solid," Rangers coach
Ron Low said. "There were a couple of point-blank shots where
there were rebounds and he really had no chance. We looked like he
hadn't missed a beat. It's good to have him back. "
Low thought there were too many penalties called.
"I think there's definitely enough without making some up," he
said. "I think there's enough to be called out there on a nightly
basis without having to search things out. They're searching for
calls instead of letting people play the game."
The Lightning took a 1-0 lead at 6:13 of the second period when
Rangers defenseman Rich Pilon accidentally shot the puck into his
own net. Modin was credited with the goal.
Brian Leetch tied it 1-1 at 18:32 of the second with his first
goal of the season, converting Mark Messier's pass from behind the
net.
Tampa Bay broke the tie with two goals in a 28-second span at
the start of the third period. Mike Johnson scored his second of
the season at 1:45 on a 5-on-3 man advantage, scoring into an open
net after a cross-ice pass from Vincent Lecavalier. After the power
play ended, Modin beat Richter with a slap shot.
"They're (Rangers) a very explosive team," Ludzik said. "Even
with a two-goal lead with a minute to go, you know they can get
something quick. I thought our penalty killing was pretty good. it
took a long time for our power play to get a shot on goal on that
5-on-3, but it's nice that we got something. I think Modin is the
one guy I haven't had a complaint about all year. He wasn't really
himself last night, but we had a whole lot of guys that weren't
playing well that night."
Game notes
The Lightning have outscored opponents 8-3 in the third
periods of their last three games. ... Lecavalier has a point in
all seven games this season. ... Richter made 18 saves. ... Leetch
moved into fifth place on the Rangers' games played list with 863,
passing Jean Ratelle. ... The Rangers have lost three of four since
starting the season 2-0. ... Rangers RW Radek Dvorak has played in
193 straight games, fourth among active players.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Tampa Bay Clubhouse
NY Rangers Clubhouse
RECAPS
Florida 0
Minnesota 0
Detroit 2
Columbus 1
Tampa Bay 4
NY Rangers 2
Phoenix 3
Edmonton 3
AUDIO/VIDEO
 The Rangers' Rich Pilon puts the puck past his own goalie, to credit Fredrik Modin with the goal.
avi: 586 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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