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Holmqvist sharp as Lightning snap six-game skid

Nov 8, 2007 - 4:37 AM TAMPA, Florida (Ticker) -- Johan Holmqvist and Martin St. Louis helped the Tampa Bay Lightning put an end to a miserable stretch.

Holmqvist made 22 saves and St. Louis scored the game-winning goal as the Lightning snapped a six-game losing streak with a 3-1 victory over the Florida Panthers on Wednesday night in a battle Southeast Division foes.

After winning five of his first six starts, Holmqvist failed to register a victory in each of his next five. The Swedish neminder surrendered 21 goals over that stretch, including four in a loss to the Panthers on Monday.

On Wednesday, however, Holmqvist put together one of his better outings of the season en route to his first win since October 25.

"We came out and had a really good start," Holmqvist said. "We talked about that for a long time and today, we finally get it and get the result of the two points. They have some really good players on their team, so we had to make sure we played strong defense, and I think we did that."

He did not even see a few of his biggest saves of the contest. Early in the third period, Holmqvist made several sprawling stops - including two with his back to the play - to help kill a penalty and preserve a 2-1 lead.

On that occasion, Holmqvist turn aside a one-timer and then was turned around. The Panthers fluttered a pair of shots at the net, but he still managed to deny them.

"That's how you win," Tampa Bay coach John Tortorella said. "That's how you win and lose in this league, are those key situations and you make a big play and you get a big save. Holmer makes a big save when we turned the puck over."

Holmqvist's effort allowed Tampa Bay's two first-period goals to stand. Jan Hlavac scored at 1:48, slapping a backhand pass from Brad Richards between the pads of goaltender Tomas Vokoun.

Less than five minutes later, St. Louis knocked in the rebound of a shot by Vincent Lecavalier for a 2-0 advantage. Vokoun stopped Lecavalier's initial shot with his right leg, but St. Louis got the puck and wrapped it into the net for his fourth tally of the season.

"We gave them two goals right off the bat," Florida coach Jacques Martin said. "Some turnovers and the puck's in your net. Against a team like that, you can't give them easy goals, you've got to make them earn those goals.

"The third period was probably one of our better periods. We had some chances, but bottom line, you can't turn the puck over and give them opportunities like we did."

The Panthers halved the deficit at 8:46 of the second, when Kamil Kreps' one-timer from the top of the right faceoff circle deflected off defenseman Shane O'Brien's stick and under Holmqvist's glove.

Kreps has just two career goals, and both have come against Tampa Bay. The 22-year-old Czech also tallied on April 6 in a 7-2 triumph.

Lecavalier added an empty-net goal with 58 seconds left in the third for his eighth of the campaign, sealing the victory.

"We haven't forgotten what our identity is and what we think we can do as a club," Tortorella said. "We can't. If you start second-guessing all that because of a losing streak, then it's gonna be a long year. So you have to try to keep yourself straightened out mentally about how good we can be in all situations."

Despite being overshadowed by Holmqvist's performance, Vokoun had a solid night. The Panthers' major offseason acquisition stopped 31 of the 33 shots he faced.

The Lightning won despite struggling on the power play, going 0-for-6 with the man advantage.

"You're always trying to guide the guys and have them follow you," St. Louis said. "The thing you want to make sure is that we didn't want to set a panic. We just want to come in and go about our business every day. We know it's going to turn around."