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Like usual, playoff success depends on goalie's success

More than scorers Vinny Lecavalier or Marty St. Louis, goaltender Johan Holmqvist is crucial to the Bolts' chances against the Devils.

By GARY SHELTON
Published April 12, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT [AP photo] Johan Holmqvist (40), stopping the Canadiens' Mike Johnson, was 37th in the NHL in save percentage this year, and 28th in goals against.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Glove on his left hand, stick in his right. Target on his chest, pressure on his shoulders.

Yeah, Johan Holmqvist is ready for the playoffs, all right.

He has given his team more than it ever expected, and now, it expects more. It expects everything. It expects him to be big enough, athletic enough, consistent enough. It expects him to be good enough.

In the smallest of times, in the least significant of games, it is a goaltender's sport. In the playoffs, however, everything else becomes trivia. A team succeeds only if its goaltender allows it to succeed. He is the guide, the guru, the guard dog. And so it is with Holmqvist, who has never breathed the thin air of the postseason.

As of tonight, when the Lightning begins its playoffs against the New Jersey Devils, Holmqvist is more important than Vinny Lecavalier's flair, more important than Marty St. Louis' speed, more important than Brad Richards' touch. As of tonight, Holmqvist is the essential Bolt.

If you wish to raise your eyebrows at this point, it is understandable.

Matching saves against the Devils' dazzling Martin Brodeur is a lot to ask, admittedly, but here they are, these players of the Lightning. What choice do they have? Holmqvist was 37th in the NHL in save percentage this year, and he was 28th in goals against. Still, Holmqvist is, as it should say on his business card: Better Than Denis.

Can you imagine the Lightning season without Holmqvist? For two years now, the Lightning has been incapable of picking a goaltender out of a lineup, missing wildly on John Grahame and then on Marc Denis. If Holmqvist hadn't been better than anyone suspected, the Lightning would not have made the playoffs, and the great seasons of Lecavalier and St. Louis would have been wasted, and the noise might echo through the offseason.

Now that they are here, his teammates need Holmqvist to play as if he doesn't realize how difficult this time of year is supposed to be. He is the team's only chance, particularly when you consider that the team just dumped Denis to third on the depth chart, mainly because they couldn't dump him to fourth.

Oh, the Lightning players say the right thing, and there have been moments that offer a reason to hope.

There have been times, particularly in shootouts, when Holmqvist has covered the net like a set of drapes. He had 41 saves against Atlanta on Saturday night. Four times during the year, he had a winning streak of at least four games. In three regular-season games against the Devils, he allowed a total of four goals.

Still, you cannot help but notice that Brodeur has played in 153 of these playoff games, and Holmqvist has played zero. Holmqvist played 48 games this year; Brodeur won 48 games this year.

So ask yourself: Which team is more likely to win a 2-1 game?

If you follow the Lightning, this is a scary notion. Tampa Bay played 30 games this year in which it scored fewer than three goals. It didn't win any of them. Not 2-1, not 1-0, not 2-0.

You remember 2-1 games, don't you? Playoff hockey was built around 2-1 games.

Remember when the Lightning won its first playoff game ever, against the Flyers back in '96? That score was 2-1.

Remember when the Lightning won the Stanley Cup in Game 7 against the Flames? Yep, 2-1.

Remember when the Lightning beat the Flyers in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final the same year? That was 2-1, too.

Remember when the Lightning won its first series ever, against the Capitals in '03? It won the final two games of that series 2-1.

Remember the last time the Lightning played the Devils in the playoffs? It was eliminated in triple overtime. By a score of 2-1.

Sure enough, there will be a game this series that is 1-1 in the third period, and then we'll see. It says here the Lighting won't win the series unless it wins a game with fewer than three goals.

Can this happen? Of course it can. Last year, Carolina won the Cup with a goaltender (Cam Ward) who had never played in the playoffs. No one had heard of Ken Dryden or Patrick Roy before they made their names in playoffs.

If you remember, no one much believed in Nikolai Khabibulin when the 2004 playoffs began, either. Khabibulin had played in six playoff series, but he had only won one of those, and the rap was that the playoffs were just too darned big for him. Yet, Khabibulin was amazing against the Islanders, and the Lightning's confidence soared with each stop.

Now, the Lightning has to hope that Holmqvist can do the same.

Otherwise, the puck cannot be saved. The team, either.

Gary Shelton can be reached at gshelton@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8805.

[Last modified April 11, 2007, 20:20:00]