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Gratton looks to haunt former team again

Oct 13, 2007 - 2:01 PM Tampa Bay (3-0-0) at Florida (1-3-0) 7:00 pm EDT

SUNRISE, Florida (Ticker) -- After suffering through consecutive non-playoff seasons with the Florida Panthers, Chris Gratton has found the going just a bit easier with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Gratton and the Lightning look to continue their undefeated start when they face the Panthers on Saturday.

Gratton spent the previous two seasons with Florida, totaling 30 goals and 44 assists. He was traded back to Tampa Bay for a draft pick in June, re-joining a team that he played for to start out his career from 1993-1997 and again in 1998-2000 after a short stint with the Philadelphia Flyers.

The 32-year-old center scored both goals - his first two points of the season - in a 2-1 victory over Florida on Wednesday to give Tampa Bay three wins to start the season.

Fast starts have been good to the Lightning in their short existence. They opened with six straight wins on their way to a Stanley Cup title in the 2003-2004 season. The only other time Tampa Bay started 3-0 was 2002-2003, when it won the Southeast Division and advanced to the second round of the playoffs.

Goaltender Johan Holmqvist has been stellar in net so far, starting each of the Lightning's three games and stopping 69 of 73 shots he has faced. The four goals allowed is the second-best mark in the NHL.

Florida temporarily ended its scoring woes and snapped its three-game losing streak to open the season - the worst start in franchise history - with a 3-0 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Thursday.

The Panthers picked up the win in part due to some great play in net by Tomas Vokoun, who had allowed nine goals in his first two games, and finding success on the power play, going 2-for-7 after starting the season 1-for-13.