Anisimov apologizes to Rangers, Lightning

GREENBURGH, N.Y. -- Artem Anisimov said his rifle-like pointing of his stick after scoring Thursday night against Tampa Bay was a matter of friendly fire, but he apologized for the gesture -- which prompted a melee and earned him 16 minutes in penalties -- and promised it will not be part of his goal-scoring celebrations.

"I just want to say I apologize to Tampa,'' he said after practice Friday. "I didn't mean something bad. It's just my celebration. I score a goal and I want to do something unusual, celebrate on ice. I say one more time I apologize to Tampa. I never do this celebration again. It's a good lesson for me. I do some different stuff I have in my pocket. No more shooting.''

Lightning captain Vinny Lecavalier was the first player to confront Anisimov after the incident, which resulted in five players receiving penalties. "He points his stick like he fires at our net; I'm sure his teammates and their coach were not impressed with that,'' Lecavalier told the Tampa Tribune. "We were offended and it's disrespectful. It's not like he was happy to score a goal and did some type of [fist] pump; it was directly at our net and our goalie.''

Anisimov, 23, said he was not directing his gesture toward anyone. "I point my stick to the net,'' he said, "not for the goalie, not for Vinny.''

Anisimov said he learned the rifle celebration move as a youngster and did it a couple of times in Russia. "When I grow up, one guy, he score a goal and he celebrated like this,'' he said. "I told myself when I play NHL and I score a goal, I do same thing.''

Anisimov tried to make things right with his teammates after the 3-2 shootout loss to Tampa Bay. "He apologized to the team for the situation that he put us into,'' Brian Boyle said. "Hopefully he just forgets about the whole thing. Goal celebrations are a fun part of the game.''

Brandon Dubinsky added, "He's not the type of guy who means anything malicious by it.'' But he understood Tampa Bay's reaction, saying, "Rightfully so. If I was in that position, I would have been upset, too. That's water under the bridge now. We're ready to move on. It's going to be talked about a little more. I think for us, it's over.''

SEE PHOTOSLong Island in the pros: NHL edition

John Tortorella did not let Anisimov speak to the media Thursday night, giving him a day to think about his actions. He does not want the center to lose his edge over this. "A big part of his success this year is that he's gained confidence in himself,'' he said. "He's gained confidence in interacting, he's speaking better. I think he's level-headed enough to know he made a mistake and he's just going to go back and be himself and just play.''