TAMPA This news will come as a shock to almost nobody, but the odds are heavily stacked against the Lightning to make the playoffs.

One game after being a healthy scratch for the first time, rookie LW Brett Connolly was back in the lineup Saturday.

By Damian Cristodero, Times Staff Writer
Saturday, February 4, 2012

TAMPA — For Marty St. Louis, silence was golden.

The last time he talked to the media before a potential milestone game, an injury put him on the sideline. So before his 900th NHL game, Saturday night against the Panthers, the Lightning wing declined interviews with a forceful no.

He then scored a hat trick to spark an enormous 6-3 victory at the Tampa Bay Times Forum.

That was a much better result than when he missed what would have been his 500th consecutive game, Dec. 8 in New York, after taking an errant puck to the face.

Sitting at his locker following a three-goal performance, Marty St. Louis sat with his three sons on his knee while holding three pucks to pose for a postgame picture.

Martin St. Louis scored three times in his 900th NHL game, Steven Stamkos added his league-leading 34th goal and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Florida Panthers 6-3 on Saturday night.

By Damian Cristodero, Times Staff Writer
Saturday, February 4, 2012

TAMPA — G Dwayne Roloson has played in just one of the Lightning's past eight games and just 10 of the past 31.

It is clearly no fun for Roloson, who was signed to be the team's No. 1, to be relegated to No. 2 behind Mathieu Garon. But Roloson is not rocking the boat.

"You're always disappointed when you're not playing, but you can't focus on that," he said. "You can't focus on the individual part of it. You have to focus on doing whatever you can to help us get better."

By Damian Cristodero, Times Staff Writer
Saturday, February 4, 2012

It seems as if the Lightning is committed to keeping Brett Connolly on its roster despite dramatic dropoffs in his offensive production and ice time, and that the rookie right wing needs to get much better defensively.

He was even benched for Thursday's game with the Jets.

Connolly can be sent to Tri-City of the junior Western league, and for him to be eligible for its playoffs, the move must be made by the NHL's Feb. 27 trade deadline. But Tampa Bay general manager Steve Yzerman said, "At this time we don't have any plans to do that."

By Damian Cristodero, Times Staff Writer
Saturday, February 4, 2012

5 questions D Marc-Andre Bergeron

When did you get interested in auto racing?

I was pretty young. In my hometown there was a race weekend every year. I could hear it from my house.

Did you go?

We used to sneak in and look through the fence at the cars.

Why does it appeal to you?

I relate it to hockey. There's a lot of passion. It's something you need to love to do.

Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron probably could play Saturday against the Panthers if there was no other choice. But with seven defensemen already available and Bergeron, according to coach Guy Boucher, "not in game shape" after missing eight games with a back injury, sitting out another game seemed the safe course.

Had Bergeron only done the same before he was injured.

"I should have listened to myself," he said about getting in the weight room to train.