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Prospal, Lightning top struggling Senators

Dec 5, 2007 - 4:30 AM TAMPA, Florida (Ticker) -- Perhaps it was fitting Tuesday's contest between the struggling Tampa Bay Lightning and slumping Ottawa Senators couldn't be settled in regulation or overtime.

Vaclav Prospal scored in the fourth round of the shootout, and Johan Holmqvist denied Dany Heatley to preserve the victory as the Lightning defeated the Senators, 4-3.

Ottawa, which still boasts the best record in the Eastern Conference, is now 0-4-3 in its last seven games. The drought is the team's longest without a victory since they lost seven in a row from February 22-March 9, 1996.

The win was Tampa Bay's second consecutive after stopping a five-game losing streak.

After Brad Richards scored in the second round of the shootout to give Tampa Bay the advantage, Jason Spezza answered in the third round of the bonus format to level the contest.

With Tampa Bay leading, 3-1, with just under two minutes to play, Daniel Alfredsson halved the deficit by scoring his second goal of the night.

"We had our chances to get the lead and we end up being 2-0 behind and chase them from behind throughout the game," Alfredsson said. "We would have loved to have won it in the shootout, but obviously we're very happy with getting a point."

The Ottawa captain nearly scored again, banging his shot off the left post, but defenseman Wade Redden poked in the rebound just 36 seconds later to tie the game.

"Ottawa smelled a little blood in the water and they were attacking," Tampa Bay defenseman Shane O'Brien said. "They've got a special line with Heatley, Spezza and Alfredsson there. We shut them down for two periods, but we've got to find a way to do it for 60 minutes."

Mathieu Darche and Chris Gratton scored first-period goals to propel Tampa Bay to a quick 2-0 lead.

"We let them take the game over and we still have to fix the problem as far as giving up the lead," said Darche, who scored his third goal in as many games. "But we got the two points, and that's what matters in the end."

The Lightning maintained their two-goal lead until 7:05 into the third period when Alfredsson's power-play goal halved the deficit.

Defenseman Filip Kuba answered just over two minutes later, blasting a one-timer past a screened Ray Emery to give Tampa Bay a 3-1 lead.

"I thought he made the saves when he had to," Ottawa coach John Paddock said of Emery, who finished with 25 saves. "It wasn't a tremendous amount of work, but with that kind of team, when the chances come, they're good chances and you have to be ready to make good saves."

Holmqvist stopped 26 for the Lightning.

"It's a big win for us," Tampa Bay coach John Tortorella said. "At this time of the year, where we've gone, and some of the things that have gone on with our club, we need to win that one.

"Usually you're happy, getting a point - but we needed to win that game, just for our confidence."