Giguere, Havelid Get Some Ice Time

Goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere and defenseman Niclas Havelid made their season debuts Sunday. Both would have been better off to wait another game.

Giguere, who missed training camp with a groin injury, played well, stopping 27 of 30 shots, and deserved a better fate than a 3-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Havelid, who has been out since Jan. 15, 2001 because of a knee injury, played 16 minutes 57 seconds, but was in the penalty box for high sticking when the Lightning scored the game-winning goal with 3:02 to play.

Other than that, finally getting the season started was a good thing.

“The knee felt good out there,” said Havelid, who wears a brace on his knee. “It is going to take a couple games still for me to get used to games again.”

Giguere looked sharp, making a few acrobatic saves. He slid to his right to make a pad save on Dave Andreychuk in the first period. He then held his ground, and held onto the puck, when Fredrik Modin charged in on a breakaway, knocking Giguere into the net.

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Jim Cummins missed Sunday’s game because of strained rib-cage muscle. German Titov and Pavel Trnka were healthy scratches.