Ryan Malone News

It was not difficult to hear exasperation in Steven Stamkos' voice after Thursday night's 4-3 overtime loss to the Ducks at the Honda Center.

2. Owen Nolan, Wild: The former No. 1 overall pick looked like Owen Nolan, circa 1999.

When it comes to goal production this season, the Lightning are so top-heavy at this point that the team would have a tough time bailing out the water in the hull of a ship.

Tampa Bay is 3-0-2 in its past five games and 5-1-4 in the past 10. ... Phoenix is 2-4 in its past six.

Though left wing Ryan Malone has traditionally been a slow starter, he has exploded in this season's first month, becoming an unsung hero for the Lightning.

Though the Lightning and Kings met Saturday for the only time this season, with the gritty, chippy way they played, you would have thought they were division rivals.

Nitti on Niitty: Gangster Frank is on goalie Antero's mask. [DANIEL WALLACE Times] Keeping suspect company Lightning G Antero Niittymaki has shunned the artistic interpretations of dragons and bikini-clad women generally found on the side of goaltenders' masks for one of the usual suspects: former Chicago gangster Frank Nitti .

Sometimes, the arrival comes so quickly, it is easy to forget how far a player has come.

The league will study whether it should ban hits to the head. But Lightning coach Rick Tocchet said a better idea is eliminating the instigator rule, which penalizes players who intentionally start fights.

Ryan Malone tied it with 14.7 seconds left in regulation, and Vincent Lecavalier and Steven Stamkos scored in the shootout to give the Tampa Bay Lightning a 4-3 comeback win over the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night.

No matter how the Lightning play tonight against the Wild, the aftermath won't be anything like what occurred after the team's 16th game last year.

It was big news when it happened. When then-Canucks defenseman Mattias Ohlund broke a bone in the left leg of Wild star Mikko Koivu with a two-handed slash, there were threats of retaliation in what already was a testy rivalry between the two teams.

Rookie defenceman Victor Hedman says he feels OK after being rocked by a hit from Ottawa's Chris Neil, but to be safe, he will not be in the lineup for the Tampa Bay Lightning's game against the Montreal Canadiens.

The Tampa Bay Lightning began the NHL season with Mike Smith as their No. 1 goaltender, but Antero Niittymaki is making a serious bid for the job.

The only better outcome for the Bolts would have been if they could have won it in the shootout, which would have eliminated all three albatrosses at once.

Not even a concussion could dull Victor Hedman's sense of humor. Asked Friday about the difference between playing in North America and Europe, the Lightning's rookie defenseman and Swedish native talked about the quicker NHL game and making faster decisions.

Ita TMs another night, and another overtime loss. A A hard-fought effort where the Leafs perhaps deserved a better fate.

Detroit, 7 p.m. NOTES Coach Ron Wilson had Phil Kessel on a line with Matt Stajan as his centre and Jason Blake as the other winger.

The Tampa Bay Lightning will try to win consecutive games for the first time in over three weeks when they visit the struggling Ottawa Senators tonight for a test at Scotiabank Place.

The Ottawa Senators could get a boost from the return of centre Jason Spezza for Thursday's game against the Lightning.