It was good while it lasted.
The Tampa Bay Lightning's three-game unbeaten streak came to an
end on January, 26 when the visiting Montreal Canadiens defeated
the Lightning 2-1.
Despite another strong defensive showing, the Lightning were on
able to light the lamp once as Benoit Hogue notched his fourth of
the season.
Prior to the All-Star break, the Lightning tied Boston 2-2,
defeated Buffalo 2-1, and Nashville 3-2. Two of the three games
were played on the road.
"It's been a rough year so far," defenseman Cory Cross said to
Associated Press. "It's nice to get away for a few days. It's
good to get a couple wins. We'll enjoy the break a little more."
The victory against the Sabres was special for coach Jacques
Demers. It was the 400th victory of his career. He becomes only
the twelfth coach in NHL history to accomplish this feat.
"I'm going to get it (the game puck) framed and I'm going to put
my wife's name on it," said Demers, whose wife Debbie was
diagnosed with cancer midway through last season. "I want to
share it with her because I didn't think she'd be here tonight."
"You got to remember, I didn't do this by myself," Demers said.
"The players seemed to really want it for me and I won't forget
that. It was a special thing."
The victory over the Sabres snapped an eight-game winless streak
and also beat Buffalo for the first time (0-8-1) since Corey
Schwab posted a 4-0 shutout over the Sabres on Oct. 15, 1996.
"Jacques is an emotional guy and really cares about his team.
We're glad we could give something back to him," said Rob Zamuner
whose goal in the second period turned out to be the game-winner.
"It's a nice night for Jacques and he deserves one day of feeling
good about our team."
Off the ice, the Lightning made a couple of moves. First they
sent Craig Janney to the New York Islanders for a draft pick.
Less than a week later, they traded hard hitting Andrei Nazarov
to the Calgary Flames for center Michael Nylander.
"Michael is a dynamic, young offensive player who has the ability
to create scoring chances at any time," said Tampa Bay general
manager and coach Jacques Demers. "He upgrades our skill level
immediately."
Nylander had his best season in 1995-96 with Calgary, totaling 17
goals and 38 assists in 73 games. Prior to joining the Flames,
Nylander played for the Hartford Whalers. This season he has
played only nine games and has two goals and three assists. He
missed the first 23 games with a knee injury and has been a
healthy scratch for 12 contests.
