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A game is saved - but what about spiraling season?

Do not feel badly if you continue to harbor doubts about Tampa Bay's goaltending situation.

By JOHN ROMANO
Published March 21, 2007

TAMPA - One shot. One save.

Is it enough to change your mind?

One huge challenge. One emphatic response.

Is it enough to change a season?

The Lightning won an overtime game Tuesday night, which was absolutely essential. And Johan Holmqvist won a last-minute reprieve, which, in the long run, may turn out to be even more significant.

Do not feel badly if, even after Tuesday night's 4-3 victory against the Islanders, you continue to harbor doubts about Tampa Bay's goaltending situation. Judging from the words of John Tortorella and the transactions of Jay Feaster, you would be in good company.

But there was a moment in Tuesday night's game when you wondered if, just maybe, there is still hope to be savored.

Holmqvist, who has been pulled from starts and threatened with the arrival of a rookie, had blown a 2-0 lead in a matter of minutes in the second period. Worse yet, the second goal whizzed past with no excuses in its wake.

By the time the third period arrived, the Lightning was trailing 3-2 and Holmqvist appeared to be traveling down a path once blazed by John Grahame.

But then a Jason Ward goal put the Lightning back in the game. And, shortly afterward, Holmqvist made the save that could define his role in the next month.

With 5:45 remaining, New York's Andy Hilbert broke free in the middle of the ice and fired a point-blank shot at the Lightning goal.

With a flick of the glove, Holmqvist pulled the puck from the air. And, perhaps, pulled his job back with it.

A day earlier, the Lightning had given Holmqvist and Marc Denis a vote of no confidence with the recall of 20-year-old rookie Karri Ramo. Team officials said it wasn't specifically because of the stench of Sunday's 7-1 loss in Washington, but they also did not rule out the possibility of Ramo earning playing time.

"We just want them to do the best they can," Tortorella said of Holmqvist and Denis. "They're our goalies. And they've played very good hockey this year. It's just the consistency. That's what we're looking for. Is it solved? No, it doesn't get solved overnight.

"But this is the time of year that we need to try to get behind them a little bit. And I think the team played for him tonight and tried to get him out of a little bit of a jam there in the third period."

In the past eight days, the need for a savior in the net has never been more evident.

The Lightning led 1-0 and 2-1 against Toronto and managed to lose. It was up 1-0 against Buffalo and lost that one, too. Then came the 2-0 lead last night that was squandered before being reclaimed.

Surely, by now, you know this is not a fluke. It has been the plot line of the season, and it is threatening to be a legacy of disappointment.

"What I see, and this is true of this team, when we don't get the goaltending, the confidence level drops and we don't play our style," Feaster said.

We have, at times, been distracted the past two seasons. We have worried about slow defensemen and slumping scorers. There have been moments when the power play was out of sorts, and the penalty kill was out of touch.

Yet, in the end, what ails the Lightning has never really changed. Everything else has merely been symptoms and side effects.

The Lightning has not had a goaltender it could depend on.

And it has been that way since the August day in 2005 when Nikolai Khabibulin found free agent riches, and the Lightning found itself in a world of trouble.

Since then, the job has been given to Grahame. And Sean Burke. And Denis. And Holmqvist. In all, the Lightning has put seven goaltenders on the ice and not one of them has had a save percentage above .895.

In a way, it has been Exhibit A in the dangers of free agency considering Khabibulin's $27-million contract has essentially been the undoing of two teams.

It has eaten a chunk out of Chicago's salary cap while producing no results. And it has transformed the Lightning from Stanley Cup champions into an offensive freak show.

Even Holmqvist acknowledges the necessity for better play.

"You don't win championships without a good goaltender," he said. "It's as simple as that."

And so we wonder whether it will actually come to this.

If, with a handful of games left, the Lightning would be better served by handing the season over to a 20-year-old goalie?

Naturally, the idea is insane.

Which makes it entirely plausible because, up to this point, Tampa Bay's goaltending has been skittish enough to drive anyone crazy.

John Romano can be reached at romano@sptimes.com and 727 893-8811.

[Last modified March 21, 2007, 05:52:21]