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Lightning look to rebound from tough loss

Mar 27, 2007 - 2:23 PM Florida (31-30-14) at Tampa Bay (41-31-4) 7:00 pm EDT

TAMPA, Florida (Ticker) -- The Tampa Bay Lightning look to rebound from an embarrassing loss Tuesday when they face the Florida Panthers.

After winning consecutive games, the Lightning suffered a 7-2 home loss to Ottawa on Saturday. It matched their worst defensive performance since a 7-2 thrashing at Buffalo on November 20.

Tampa Bay has 86 points, two behind first-place Atlanta (39-27-10) in the Southeast Division. The Lightning are seventh overall in the Eastern Conference, one point behind the New York Rangers (39-28-9).

The Lightning will be looking for more production from Vincent Lecavalier, who has cooled a little with just three goals in his last six contests. He still leads the league with 49 and is third in points with 100.

The Panthers still are alive in the playoff chase but are running out of time. They have seven games left and are eight points out of the final playoff berth in the East.

Florida will be looking to avoid its third straight loss following a 4-3 setback in a shootout against New Jersey on Saturday. Olli Jokinen scored his 36th goal and has five goals and five assists in his last four contests.