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Lecavalier, Denis help Lightning hold off Wild

Jan 5, 2007 - 7:07 AM ST. PAUL, Minnesota (Ticker) -- Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis made the Minnesota Wild pay for getting in their way.

St. Louis opened the scoring off a feed from Lecavalier and set up his teammate's decisive goal late in the second period as the Tampa Bay Lightning edged the Wild, 3-2.

Defenseman Dan Boyle also scored and Marc Denis was strong in goal for Tampa Bay, which scored three different ways en route to its second win in three games.

St. Louis, who entered the contest leading the Lightning with 50 points, scored a shorthanded goal at 8:42 of the first period for a 1-0 lead. The assist by Lecavalier was his team-leading 29th of the season.

"I thought we played well in the first period," St. Louis said. "We got them on the shorthander and were able to put the momentum in our favor a bit."

Boyle gave Tampa Bay a 2-0 lead just over five minutes later, when he deked two defenders and fired a wrist shot past goaltender Manny Fernandez for his ninth tally.

"I love getting the puck, skating at the blue line the way (fellow blue-liner) Paul Ranger gave it to me," Boyle said. "I just tried to make a move on the defensemen. They went for it and I was pretty happy with the result."

After Mark Parrish halved the deficit just 44 seconds into the second session, Lecavalier tallied on the power play with just over five minutes left in the period. Off a pass by St. Louis from behind the net, the 6-4, 223-pound center blasted a shot that beat Fernandez to the stick side for a 3-1 advantage.

"We scored a power-play goal, a big goal to go up two," Lightning coach John Tortorella said. "It helped and we just found a way to win the hockey game."

The goal was the 51st point of the campaign for Lecavalier, who remains one behind St. Louis for the team lead.

Ranger had two assists and Denis made 29 saves for Tampa Bay, which won for just the fifth time in 12 games.

Denis faced 14 shots in the third period, sweeping aside 13 - including a flurry of attempts by Minnesota in the last two minutes.

"Although we gave up (Pavol) Demitra's goal, I thought we played smart overall in the third period as far as being on the road and protecting that lead," Denis said. "I thought our defensive crew handled things very well. I was able to see most of the shots and they handled the tips and rebounds very well."

Parrish and Demitra each had a goal and an assist and Mikko Koivu set up both tallies for the Wild, who had their three-game winning streak snapped.

"I think we were a little slower today, but in the third period, I think we played a bit better," Wild defenseman Kim Johnsson said. "But overall, it was our weakest game in a while."