Tortorella: Holmqvist has earned No. 1 spot

By EDUARDO A. ENCINA and DAMIAN CRISTODERO
Published April 12, 2007

TAMPA - When goalie Johan Holmqvist plays in his first playoff game in tonight's opening game of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals against New Jersey, the Lightning rookie will have the confidence of his coach.

"This isn't a flip-of-the-coin thing," coach John Tortorella said after practice Wednesday. "He has earned this opportunity. He has earned to be called the No. 1 goalie for us going into the playoffs, and that's going through a process throughout the year. The mental development has grown. The physical talent and all that has always been there."

Tortorella only needs to point to the final regular-season game as the reason Holmqvist is his starter. Coming off a game in which he was lifted after allowing four goals in the first period against Florida, there was no layover 24 hours later in Atlanta, when Holmqvist made 41 saves - on 22 scoring opportunities by Tortorella's count - in a shootout loss to Atlanta.

Holmqvist credits his international experience with being able to maintain a calm head through the season's peaks and valleys, something Tortorella insists is important through a best-of-seven series.

"It's something I've been working on," Holmqvist said. "I don't know how many bad games through the years you have. If you get unfocused and you start wondering too much why it's not working, then it's hard to come back. You learn something about it and most of the time you forget about it the day after. That's something I've been learning through the years."

MATCHING MADDEN: Something to watch during the series with the Devils is the matchup between Vinny Lecavalier and Marty St. Louis' line against New Jersey's checking line of John Madden, Jay Pandolfo and Sergei Brylin.

"When you play them, you know they're going to play well defensively," Lecavalier said of the Madden line. "You just have to be aware. You know you're always going to have a high man. You're not going to have too many three-on-twos or two-on-ones so you just have to make sure you get in deep and play in their zone."

In four regular-season games against the Devils, Lecavalier scored one goal with four assists. St. Louis has two goals and one assist against New Jersey.

IT'S NOT ABOUT ME: Ruslan Fedotenko's season was as frustrating as they come. His 12 goals were fewer than half of last season's 26. He had one goal in his last 29 games and one shot on goal in his final six.

"At this point, I just want to play the way I did in '04," Fedotenko said.

That was the season the wing scored 12 playoff goals and Tampa Bay won the Stanley Cup. But Fedotenko said he is not setting arbitrary goals.

"It's not personal when I'm setting goals and all that stuff," he said. "It would be nice if you score the goals. You help the team win. But at this point, it's more a team effort, not individual. You take it a game at a time, a day at a time, and see what happens."

[Last modified April 12, 2007, 08:31:54]