Tampa Bay Brings Out the Worst in Kings, Who Look Ugly Again

Tampa Bay may be the worst team in the NHL this season, but the Lightning sure has the Kings’ number.

The up-and-down Kings were low again Thursday night as the Lightning stretched its unbeaten streak against them to five games with a 2-1 victory before 11,610 at the Forum.

The Lightning (8-15-2) has won only twice in its last 13 games, both of the victories coming against the Kings, including a 3-0 shutout last month in Tampa.

After missing the playoffs the last three seasons, the Kings were not touted to do well by many observers, but they have shown they can play with the NHL’s best teams based on impressive victories at Chicago, Philadelphia and Hartford.

In games in which they play well, the Kings are an aggressive team with the ability to finish plays and prevent easy goals. When they struggle, however, they can make any team look good with turnovers and unattended rebounds in their own zone.

That was the case Thursday night when the Kings lost their third game in a row at home and fifth in 11 at the Forum this season.

Goalie Rick Tabaracci made 28 saves to lead the way for Tampa Bay, which lost to the Mighty Ducks on Wednesday night. His fine play made goals by Patrick Poulin and Alexander Selivanov hold up, giving the team only its eighth win of the season.

“We definitely caught a team that was struggling, but we came out flat,” King goalie Byron Dafoe said. “There wasn’t a lot of emotion out there. No one’s happy in the locker room.”

An example of the Kings’ inability to capitalize when they have a man advantage came in the second period. For 59 seconds midway through the period, the Kings were unable to score on a five-on-three situation after interference penalties against Tabaracci and Selivanov.

The Kings’ best scoring chance actually came seconds after their two-man advantage ended when Vladimir Tsyplakov’s back-hand shot from the slot was stopped by Tabaracci near the seven-minute mark of the period.

“I felt like we started out well, but we turned the puck over and did not have too many good breakouts,” Dimitri Khristich said. “We had so many chances again. We just weren’t able to get the puck in the net.”

Tampa Bay opened the scoring, thanks to a miscue by Dafoe. Center Brian Bradley started the play when he whacked the puck around the boards behind the Kings’ goal and Dafoe missed the puck when he went behind the net. Tampa Bay right wing Dino Ciccarelli took the puck in the right corner and passed to Poulin in front of the crease for a goal at the 6:35 mark.

The Kings caught a break and tied the score with less than a minute remaining in the first period. With Tampa Bay defenseman David Shaw in the penalty box for tripping, the Kings got a gift when Jaroslav Modry slapped a shot from the blue line off the back of Lightning defenseman Igor Ulanov, who was tied up in front of the net with the Khristich. It was only the second goal of the season for Modry, who had not played in the Kings’ last six games.

Tampa Bay took a 2-1 lead 8:18 into the second period when Dafoe stopped a shot from the blue line by Drew Bannister, but Selivanov was able to pick up the rebound and score over the diving goalie. It was only the Lightning’s 25th power play goal of the season.