RALEIGH, N.C. — One practice wasn’t enough for Rick Tocchet to correct all that was wrong with the Lightning.
Tocchet lost his debut as Tampa Bay coach when Tuomo Ruutu and Rod Brind’Amour scored in the shootout and Cam Ward stopped two shots to give the Hurricanes a 3-2 victory Sunday.
“It’s a step in the right direction,” Tocchet said. “I thought the guys played well, I think they’re really starting to get what we’re trying to do here.”
Tocchet, a former member of the Avalanche, became a head coach for the first time when Barry Melrose was fired Friday after losing three straight games.
A veteran of 18 NHL seasons, Tocchet perhaps is best known for his role in a sports betting ring that led to a league suspension.
He rejoined the Coyotes as an assistant coach in February, then was hired by Melrose in the offseason.
“The last thing I need to do is show the guys that I’m too anxious or stuff like that,” Tocchet said. “I actually was very calm, so it was kind of surreal, kind of fun.”
Vincent Lecavalier and Jussi Jokinen both failed to score in the shootout, giving the Hurricanes only their second victory in six games. Brind’Amour also scored in regulation to move out of a tie for 50th on the career NHL scoring list.
The new coach made a few subtle changes, such as using shorter shifts for all the players in an attempt to keep them fresh down the stretch.
It appeared to work, too. The Lightning outshot Carolina 8-1 in the third period. Then it had a man-advantage that carried over from regulation to the first 1:45 of overtime, but it couldn’t capitalize.
One of Tocchet’s first decisions, though, was to reunite the line of Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis and Vinny Prospal, which had been separated for a game by Melrose, and it paid immediate dividends.
Lecavalier and St. Louis scored in the same game for the first time this season to give the Lightning a 2-0 lead.
“This is our first crack at it,” St. Louis said. “I thought he did a good job. I wish we had a better outcome, but I thought we stuck together. We battled hard.”
Carolina rallied in the second period. Wade Brookbank gathered a rebound with his back to the net and whirled to put the puck in the net to cut the deficit to 2-1. About 90 seconds later, Brind’Amour gathered in a beautiful pass from Ray Whitney and sent a low shot past goalie Mike Smith.
“I hope this puts us in the right direction,” Brind’Amour said. “Our game is not where you want it to be. But a win is a win and we’ll take it any way we can get it.”
