Havlat, who injured his right shoulder in the first game of the season and missed the next 22, returned to the lineup in spectacular fashion Wednesday night by scoring two goals to lift
"I was just getting ready to play good defensively, and whatever came offensively I'd take, but it ended up like this," said Havlat, who scored his first goal 43 seconds into the game. "It was nice to score right away and get the first one. It was a great night for everybody."
The winger's season was beginning anew after he got hurt in a scrum in front of the net in the Oct. 4 opener at Minnesota. He avoided a third surgery and instead underwent intense rehabilitation.
"I just wanted to come back and be helpful," Havlat said. "I knew at the beginning I wouldn't feel great. I need to get my legs back and get into game shape. I was just trying to chip in and help the team win."
Havlat gave the Hawks a 1-0 lead when he broke in two-on-one with Jason Williams and flipped a backhand shot into the top of the net past Lightning goaltender
After
"It's a boost for the whole team," said rookie
"You could sense something was going to happen right off the bat. He scored 43 seconds in. It's definitely nice to have him in the lineup."
Tampa Bay began the third period with
After the Lightning got on the scoreboard when Nick Tarnasky scored his first goal of the season with 10:18 left,
"We were really excited this week knowing [Havlat] was going to be back in the lineup," said Toews, whose goal was his ninth. "We were excited to be back here in front of our own fans with new guys in the lineup. I had a lot of energy, and I think especially [Kane], Sharp and myself, we just went out there and played and added to it."
Goaltender
"Those guys are very explosive, [but] they didn't seem to have much jump," Khabibulin said of his former Lightning teammates. "But you can't really fall asleep with them because it doesn't take much for them to explode and score a few goals."
Khabibulin added some offense of his own by picking up assists on Sharp's and Toews' goals.
One-timers
Defensemanckuc@tribune.com