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Lecavalier leads Lightning to rare home win over Stars

Jan 20, 2009 - 5:21 AM TAMPA, Florida (Ticker) -- Captain Vincent Lecavalier scored two goals to lift the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 4-2 victory over the Dallas Stars on Monday.

Lecavalier added an assist to help Tampa Bay do something it has not accomplished in some time - beat Dallas at home.

Dallas had not lost in Tampa since February 19, 1996 - winning eight straight road contests over the Lightning in that span. The Stars have outscored Tampa Bay by a 24-10 margin over that stretch.

The Stars looked like they were on their way to another win in Tampa, holding a 2-1 lead in the third period. But rookie Steven Stamkos netted the equalizer with 8:14 to play and Lecavalier gave the Lightning the lead with a power-play tally just over three minutes later.

Vaclav Prospal capped the scoring with an empty-net goal with 49 seconds left.

Lecavalier opened the scoring just 93 seconds into the game with a shorthanded goal. On a breakaway, Lecavalier skated in on goaltender Marty Turco and beat him between the pads for his 20th goal of the season.

"I got pretty lucky," Lecavalier said. "I was alone from before the blue line to their net. He left me a little bit of an opening between his legs and I took advantage of it."

Lecavalier's former teammate, Brad Richards, evened the score 20 seconds later with a power-play goal from the slot.

"We let them hang around and obviously they've got firepower. You let them hang around and eventually they're going to kill you and that's what happened," Richards said. "We've got to start backing up games or it's going to start being too late.

"I had fun out there until five minutes left in the third. Obviously it was a bad ending. It was a fun time to come back, but the bigger picture is that we really wanted to win the game, not just because it's them. But we need points right now and we threw them away again when we had a lead."

Loui Eriksson scored his career-best 22nd goal of the season in the second period to give Dallas a 2-1 lead, but the Stars could not make it hold up.

After Stamkos tied the game, Lecavalier took a pass from Cory Murphy and one-timed a high blast from the right circle that beat Turco and put the Lightning ahead for good.

"Murphy made a great play, a touch pass. It was a smart play," Lecavalier said. "He got it to me right away, if you wait a second, it can be too late. He put in a perfect spot."

Mike Smith made 23 saves for Tampa Bay, which had won four of its last six.

"This was one of the most mentally and emotionally draining games I think I've played, other than the one when I was traded here," Smith said. "It felt surreal out there. I was kind of nervous to start the game. We go the job done and that's the most important thing."

Turco made 16 saves for the Stars.