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Lightning's problems extend to the AHL, too
By
PATRICK WILLIAMS -- SLAM! Sports
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BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – The Tampa Bay Lightning’s problems are trickling right down to their AHL affiliate.
The Norfolk Admirals, Tampa Bay’s first-year affiliate, lost in regulation for the fourth time in their last six games, the latest setback being a 3-0 loss to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers at the Arena at Harbor Yard on Sunday afternoon.
Add Saturday evening’s shootout loss at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, and the Admirals (3-7-0-1) have earned just three points over a six-game span.
The parent Lightning hold a five-game losing streak amid a tense mood in Tampa Bay.
The Sound Tigers (5-5-0-0) have been a dramatically remade team suffering their own early-season problems. Before a win Saturday night at Hershey, the Sound Tigers had lost five of six games.
Bridgeport goaltender Mike Morrison, fresh off making 42 saves in the Hershey win, received the starting nod against the Admirals and stopped all 22 Norfolk shots for the Sound Tigers’ second shutout of the season, Morrison’s first.
"Mike played very well at Hershey,” Bridgeport head coach Jack Capuano said in explaining why he went with Morrison in place of Joey MacDonald.
“We decided to go back and play him another game. We've got two great goaltenders. Mike played well. He's a little bit in the zone – come back with him."
Weekend ECHL recall Rob Kinasewich, Pascal Morency and Jeff Tambellini produced Bridgeport goals, more than enough offence against a Norfolk team that has just 22 goals in its opening 11 games.
Norfolk’s scoring woes left head coach Steve Stirling with little to say.
"If you can't score, you can't win. It's the story of the whole year."
Norfolk’s power play, sputtering at 9.7 percent entering the game, crashed further, going 0-for-6 against the Sound Tigers, who have one of the AHL’s better penalty kills so far this season.
The Admirals own the Eastern Conference’s worst winning percentage, and their basement-dwelling ways come after Tampa Bay management unleashed an aggressive offseason makeover of its AHL affiliate.
But Craig MacDonald and Mathieu Darche, veterans brought into the Tampa Bay organization to stabilize the Lightning’s AHL affiliate, earned jobs in training camp and have yet to skate in the AHL this season. Number-one goaltender Karri Ramo, an AHL All-Star last season as a rookie, has made just one appearance and has missed three weeks of action with an ankle problem.
Those are the big problems for the Admirals. Elsewhere, Karl Stewart, an NHL bubble player who scored 22 goals in the AHL two seasons ago, has just one goal over his first 11 games. David Schneider, a veteran of the Finnish Elite League added to strengthen the Norfolk blue line, is a minus-eight. Veteran Norm Milley owns just one goal in 11 games.
The 5-10 Morency also fought 6-5 defenceman Matt Smaby, whom the Lightning sent down to the AHL on Saturday, and earned a decision in the scrap.
"It's a great thrill, great feeling," Morency said of his afternoon.
"My teammates have been really supportive of me, and so has the coaching staff, and the fans. It's great."
For all of their problems, the Admirals have received mostly respectable goaltending this season. Ryan Munce took his turn in net and stopped 27 of 30 Bridgeport shots. Morency’s goal came off a blocked shot in the Bridgeport zone that the agitator then converted into a breakaway goal on a pretty backhand move.
A bad bounce off the Norfolk end boards with Munce behind the net to play the puck allowed Tambellini to scoop up the puck inside the left circle and deposit a shot into the vacated net before Munce could scramble back to his crease.
The Admirals departed after the game for the long bus ride back to Virginia, where they will host Hershey in a two-game series that begins on Wednesday. Bridgeport welcomes Worcester for a Wednesday-morning contest.
