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Holmqvist, Lightning blank Senators

Jan 20, 2008 - 4:54 AM OTTAWA (Ticker) -- One day after recording his team's first shutout of the season, Johan Holmqvist blanked the Eastern Conference-leading Ottawa Senators.

Holmqvist stopped all 25 shots he faced and All-Stars Martin St. Louis and Vincent Lecavalier each scored a goal as the Tampa Bay Lightning skated to a 2-0 victory over the Senators on Saturday.

St. Louis opened the scoring with 2:38 remaining in the first period.

With Tampa Bay on the power play, Brad Richards fired a shot from the blue line that Ray Emery stopped. But St. Louis corralled the rebound and deposited it past the goaltender for his 18th tally of the season.

"We had better puck possession tonight," St. Louis said. "We got our wingers open, which gave us better options." "They limited our chances and they scored on theirs," Ottawa's Jason Spezza said. "They scored on the power play and we didn't."

That was enough for Holmqvist, who recorded his third career shutout by stopping seven shots in the first period, 12 in the second and six in the third.

"It's not all me," Holmqvist said. "It was a strong team effort. The defense has been strong the last three games."

The 29-year-old netminder made 27 saves as the Lightning blanked the Pittsburgh Penguins, 3-0, on Friday. In that game, the Penguins lost reigning Hart and Art Ross Trophy winner Sidney Crosby, who left in the first period with a high ankle sprain.

"He's been sensational our last three games," St. Louis said of Holmqvist. "When your goalie plays as well as he has lately, you're going to win games."

On Saturday, the Senators were playing without two-thirds of their top line.

Captain Daniel Alfredsson, who has 29 goals and 60 points this season, sat out with a hip flexor injury, while fellow All-Star Dany Heatley is sidelined for six weeks with a separated shoulder.

"Ottawa's a dangerous team, so we knew we still had to work hard in the third period," Richards said. "It was a very big road game for us."

Ottawa's best chance to solve Holmqvist came three minutes into the second period.

With the Senators on a 2-on-1 rush, All-Star Spezza fed defenseman Chris Phillips in the right faceoff circle for a quick wrist shot. Holmqvist slid across the crease and deftly deflected the puck out of mid-air.

"It was just a case that nothing was going in for us," Ottawa defenseman Wade Redden said. "We had our chances to put it past Holmqvist with a couple of 2-on-1s."

"It's not just the saves (Holmqvist) is making, but how he makes them," Lightning coach John Tortorella said. "He's playing real solid."

Lecavalier added an empty-net goal with 12 seconds remaining to seal the win.