All of a Sudden, Tampa Bay Is Road Warrior

Daren Puppa sat in a quiet corner of the visiting dressing room at Anaheim Arena, looking as if he’d already had taken a shower.

Beads of sweat rolled off his forehead, down his cheeks and off his chin. His jersey was off, but the rest of his gear was still strapped on tight. It had been a tough night.

“Pretty good win for us,” Puppa said Sunday after stopping 39 shots in the Tampa Bay Lightning’s 4-2 victory over the Mighty Ducks.

Winless on the road. Struggling at home. Awful on the power play. Only so-so killing penalties.

Until this weekend, Tampa Bay experienced the pitfalls--pratfalls, too--of its second year in the NHL. The Lightning went 23-54-7 in its first season, setting the standard for expansion franchises, including the Ducks.

San Jose won 17 games in its first season and Ottawa won only 10.

But 1993-94 has been a giant leap backward for the Lightning, which began its trip winless in 10 road games at 0-8-2 and 6-17-2 overall.

And that’s why Puppa could say beating the Ducks was a big deal.

Tampa Bay was supposed to be better this season. Puppa, selected from Florida in Phase II of the expansion draft, was part of the reason that was so, but every game seemed to present new battles. Biggest of all was the Lightning’s inability to score goals.

Tampa Bay went into Sunday’s game with 61 goals, a league low and a source of anxiety for Puppa.

“There’s a lot of pressure when you know you have to keep it close,” he said.

Tampa Bay beat the Kings, 5-4, Saturday for its first road victory, then rallied from a 2-1 deficit Sunday to defeat the Ducks.

“The last two games (mean) hopefully, we’re getting over the hump generating goals,” Puppa said. “They’ve all been close games. We just haven’t generated goals. That’s been the difference the last two games.”

But that didn’t mean Tampa Bay eased Puppa’s burden Sunday. The Lightning came out “skating in sludge,” according to Puppa and trailed, 2-1, by the end of the first period.

Then, Joe Reekie gave Garry Valk a concussion and a cut over the right eye that needed four stitches with a tough check along the boards. Too tough, as it turned out, and referee Mike McGeough gave Reekie a five-minute cross-checking major and a game misconduct. Shawn Chambers already was in the penalty box, so the Ducks had a five-on-three advantage for the first 58 seconds of the five-minute power play.

But nothing clicked as Puppa stopped the Ducks cold.

“You have to give special thanks to Daren Puppa on the five-minute kill,” said Marc Bureau, who scored the go-ahead goal on a breakaway at 8:22 of the third period. “That was the turning point right there, those 10 or 12 shots he stopped in the five minutes.”

Said Duck Coach Ron Wilson: “We outshot them about 2 to 1 (actually 41-23) and still lost. (Puppa) was the difference tonight. Simply outstanding.”

Now the question is whether two victories in Southern California can turn the Lightning in the right direction. Puppa is hopeful, but he thought the Lightning had done so earlier this season.

“Every time we think we’re turning the corner, we take three steps back,” he said. “It’s nice to get a couple of road wins under our belt. They were tough coming before this weekend.”