Anders Lindback to split time with Mathieu Garon. (Getty Images)

The Tampa Bay Lightning had to do something about their goaltending situation this summer after Dwayne Roloson and Mathieu Garon struggled through the 2011-12 season, finishing with the worst combined save percentage in the entire league. Their performance was perhaps the biggest reason the Lightning followed up a run to the Eastern Conference Final the previous year by falling short of the playoffs.

The solution for general manager Steve Yzerman: send a couple of draft picks up to Nashville for their young backup goalie, Anders Lindback. He's a player with a lot of talent and upside, but one that was never going to get an opportunity to be the No. 1 guy for the Predators due to the presence of Pekka Rinne.

It was the first of many big offseason additions by the Lightning (the free agent signings of Matt Carle and Sami Salo being the others) and one that they're hoping can help solidify what was one of the worst goaltending situations in the NHL last year (if not the worst).

But while there are high hopes for Lindback in Tampa Bay, coach Guy Boucher said this weekend that the plan is to allow him and Garon, at least at the start of the season, to be a 1A and 1B in net for the Lightning. Boucher told Damian Cristodero of the St. Petersburg Times that he's not expecting Lindback to come in and play 65 games because it wouldn't be fair to him or the expectations that would come with that.

Especially given how little he's played the past two years. During his first two years in Nashville, where Rinne was one of the most durable goalies in the league, Lindback appeared in just 38 games (22 in 2010-11, just 16 last season), starting only 28.

"We know he's going to be good, but how good we don't know," Boucher told Cristodero. "That's why Garon is perfect for him. He'll be able to help him with how to manage things. And we know we can put Garon in net and get good results."

In 48 games last season Garon posted a .901 save percentage for the Lightning, the best among the four goalies that appeared in a game for them by a pretty significant margin. Boucher told Garon to make sure he doesn't come to camp with a "backup attitude."

They already have the offense, and they added two capable veterans to their blue line to go with Victor Hedman, their young shutdown defenseman and the guy that should anchor their blue line for years to come.

With the firepower the Lightning can put on the ice at any given time offensively and an improved blue line, they shouldn't need great goaltending to get back into the playoffs. Even in a non-playoff year like last season Tampa Bay still finished ninth in the NHL in goals scored, and was one only three teams in the top-15 in offense to miss the playoffs (Toronto and Winnipeg being the others).

Even a league average performance, or perhaps even a slightly below average one, in net last season might have been enough to get the Lightning in the postseason.

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