TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Henderson: On This Night, Holmqvist Really Made Difference

ADVERTISEMENT

The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 5, 2007

TAMPA - When last we saw Johan Holmqvist, he was in line to shake hands with the New Jersey Devils after they beat the Lightning in the sixth and deciding game of their opening-round playoff series last spring.

As he walked out of the Forum that day and into an extended vacation, we wondered: would he return? And if he did, could the Lightning ever seriously contend for a championship again with him in goal?

Fast-forward to Thursday night and the start of a new season.

Holmqvist, indeed, was back and standing tall.

He stopped 26 shots and outplayed his more glamorous counterpart, Martin Brodeur, in the 3-1 Lightning victory against, yes, the Devils.

He withstood hard-angle shots, point-blank shots, and shots that on another night might have gotten by him. This might have been just the first night in an interminably long National Hockey League season, and it will take a while to get a true feel for Holmqvist and a lot of other guys wearing the Lightning sweater, but you have to like what you've seen so far.

His teammates certainly did.

'I thought he was the big difference,' Martin St. Louis said.

'He played unbelievable,' was how Vinny Lecavalier described it.

Lecavalier was pretty unbelievable himself, scoring the Bolts' first two goals before an empty-netter by Vinny Prospal put it away. You expect that from a superstar, but here's the thing: For the Bolts to get where they want to be this season, they need to expect it from Holmqvist, too.

Played Confidently

There was a fair amount of criticism directed at Lightning management for not securing a veteran goaltender in the offseason. People remember a jittery Holmqvist falling apart in the opening game of that series in April against the Devils.

But the Lightning remember something else about that series. After he looked so out of it in Game 1, Holmqvist came back to win the next two games. There's some toughness there.

He needed every bit of that in this game.

Nothing says hockey like 90 degrees on the fourth day of October, and so it began - slowly, out of sync, and sometimes almost with a sense of 'what are we doing here?'

There were more than a few phantom attendees among the occupied seats in what was officially declared a turnout of 19,454 fans, and those who did show took their sweet time about getting into the game. Their team did the same.

But the Devils got the memo that the season had started. They came out hard. Holmqvist stayed in there. The puck stayed out of the net.

'In that first period, they kind of took it to us, but Holmer was there and made some huge saves,' St. Louis said. 'He gave us a chance to weather the storm. I felt we got better as the game went on, almost like we hadn't caught up to the speed of the game yet at the start. We were a little nervous as a team.

'Once we got a period under our belt, we were able to come out and play the way we can. It's a credit to Holmer to give us a chance.'

The Devils sent 13 shots at Holmqvist in the second period. That was really where he shined.

'To make those saves there in the second period when it was 1-1, he made a couple of huge saves, he helped us to go from there and build momentum,' Lecavalier said. 'We got a goal, and he closed the door from there. They had a couple of surges in the second period and had opportunities, but he kept us in there.'

Good Start

It was just the sort of effort and result the Bolts were looking for on opening night.

Had Holmqvist struggled, well, you could have said it was just the first night of a long season, but in the back of everyone's mind there would have been a seed of doubt. You can still say it's just one game and the first night of a long season - Holmqvist said just those words himself - but at least there's a good feeling from the outset.

'It was a big game. I felt good coming out,' he said. 'You always want to do well and this is a good start. I felt all right today. But it was just one game.'

It'll take at least a few weeks to get a feel for these Bolts. A lot depends on how Holmqvist will take to the job as the starter. That question won't be answered in one night, no matter how positive the outcome.

It has to start somewhere, though. In this case, it starts with another postgame handshake ritual - the ones given to him by his teammates Thursday night after the final horn sounded with victory secured. And this time there was a different feeling as he walked out of the Forum. A good one.

On this night, that's all anyone could ask.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT