Richards sparks Lightning to 4-2 triumph for series lead

He scored two goals as Tampa Bay took a 3-2 edge in the Eastern finals.
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- Brad Richards was anything but a one-man show. That's just not how the Tampa Bay Lightning operate.
"I don't think any one guy or one player is going to win a game, but I think you need someone that's going to lead and say: 'Jump on my back here, it's going to be my night, come with me,' " coach John Tortorella said. "But then everybody has to chip in."
Richards scored twice Tuesday night in Tampa Bay's 4-2 victory over Philadelphia in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals.
Strong in goal
Still, the Lightning wouldn't have moved within one win of their first trip to the Stanley Cup finals without another strong performance by goalie Nikolai Khabibulin, who had 28 saves -- 15 of them in the third period.
"Nik has been tremendous," center Tim Taylor said. "It hasn't just been one game. It has been consistently."
Richards is more comfortable talking about team success than himself.
Although before Game 5 he suggested someone needed to step up, he rejected the notion that he took his team on his back -- much the way Keith Primeau did for Philadelphia in Games 3 and 4.
"The whole team really came out exceptionally hard and relentless in the first period. We played with a lot more desperation and passion," Richards said. "That got everybody going. It so happened I scored two goals, but it was a big effort by everybody."
Ruslan Fedotenko scored a third power-play goal, and Taylor added an empty-netter off a pass from NHL scoring champion Martin St. Louis to ensure Tampa Bay would take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series.
Game 6 in Philadelphia
Game 6 is Thursday night in Philadelphia, where the Flyers are 7-1 in the playoffs after splitting Games 3 and 4. Game 7, if necessary, will be Saturday night in Tampa.
"I think we can come back ... That's what I'm hoping," Philadelphia coach Ken Hitchcock said.
"We're going to go home and try to do our job, then Game 7 is up in the air if we can bring it back here," Flyers forward Mark Recchi said. "You never know when you get to Game 7. We have to at least give ourselves that opportunity."
Neither team has been able to put together consecutive wins. The Flyers were dominant in victories in Games 2 and 4, and the Lightning were equally impressive in taking the first, third and fifth games.
"We stress all the time how resilient our group is and we'll dig deep again," Primeau said. "We'll rally together and find a way. What makes our team special is we're going to push until there's no more pushing."
Recovers to hold win
Khabibulin recovered from allowing two goals in a 38-second span of the second period to keep Tampa Bay ahead.
The Flyers were relentless after Michal Handzus and Patrick Sharp scored, but couldn't get to the Lightning goalie.
"Nik played exceptionally strong," Philadelphia's Jeremy Roenick said. "But we stress that we can't get frustrated. ... We have to go back on Thursday and have a big game in our building and make it a one-game series."