Mike Brophy

Veteran hockey columnist Mike Brophy writes Mondays, Wednesdays and Friday on Sportsnet.ca and appears regularly on Hockeycentral.

Of all the problems in Tampa Bay this season, the play of Mike Smith is not one of them.

Tampa Bay netminder Mike Smith sat in his dressing stall at Air Canada Centre after another first star performance.

He wasn't chosen first star of his team's 3-2 win over the Maple Leafs, but he should have been awarded the honour. Instead it went to Vinny Lecavalier, who scored two goals and was pretty darn good.

Asked what he thinks about the fact many suggested goaltending was one of the big question marks facing the Lightning heading into the 2008-09 season now that his numbers rank among the best among NHL puck-stoppers, Smith smiles.

"Some people are still saying that," he says with a laugh.

They shouldn't be.

The Lightning was supposed to light it up on offence this season, but struggle in their own end because of a thin defence and unproven goaltending. In fact quite the opposite has been true in the first few weeks of the season.

Heading into Tuesday's game in Toronto, Tampa Bay was last in the weak Southeast Division, yet they had allowed the fewest number of goals (18). Unfortunately they had also scored the fewest number of goals (12). Even after the win over the Leafs they still rank first in defence and last in offence in the division.

If the rest of the Lightning players have turned a corner with the win, perhaps they'll finally catch up to Smith who was way ahead of them.

"I always knew I could be an NHL starter," Smith says. "You hear people saying that maybe you're not good enough and it just makes you want to work harder to prove them wrong."

Smith currently ranks second in save percentage (.942) and seventh in goals-against average (2.11) and has been the one bright light for a team that has endured a horrible start to the year.

"Right from training camp Mike Smith has been this team's best player," Barry Melrose said. "He came to camp in great shape and is showing that he is one of the best stoppers as well as being one of the best puck-handling goalies in the league. If we had been able to score some goals for him we'd have 10 more points in the standings and he'd be leading every NHL goaltending stats category."

Smith was the key acquisition in a trade with Dallas last season that also brought Jussi Jokinen and Jeff Halpern to Tampa for Brad Richards and Johan Holmqvist. The Lightning have had a huge void between the pipes since Nikolai Khabibulin left after helping Tampa Bay win the Stanley Cup in 2004 and felt Smith, even though he had played just 44 games with the Stars, was the answer.

Joining a team that finished 30th last season, Smith failed to impress by winning just three of his 13 starts. That's why many considered goaltending to be a question mark heading into this season. Instead he has been the backbone of a team trying to find its legs. Tuesday's effort, a huge win despite being outshot 39-25, was typical of his play this year.

But the Lightning has a host of other issues. Melrose, who stepped behind the bench after more than a decade away from coaching, has not made his mark early. Steven Stamkos, the top pick in the last draft, has yet to kick it into gear though it can certainly be argued he has not been set up to succeed given his limited playing time. And the team lacks a puck-moving defenceman with Dan Boyle having been traded to San Jose. Add to that Marek Malik is too slow for today's game and Matt Carle makes too many careless giveaways in his own zone and you can understand why the Lightning has struggled.

Smith, meanwhile, has been coasting along and proving to be a bona fide No. 1 goalie.

"I keep telling people it's a long season and there will probably be a few bumps along the way," he cautions.

Perhaps; but so far, so good.

Smith is very athletic and has been known to roam from the crease, although he is using more discretion this season and it has been paying off. He is also very adept at handling the puck and earned his first assist of the year against the Leafs.

"He has given us a chance to win every game," says Martin St-Louis. "I saw him play before he joined us and I knew he was a good goalie. He joined us at a tough time of the year and didn't really have much of a chance to succeed, but just watch him play this season - he has success written all over him."

And if the Lightning enjoys success this season, you can bet Mike Smith's fingerprints will be all over the blueprint.