I was at the Tampa Bay-Florida game tonight and it is apparent that if the Tampa Bay Lightning are to do anything this season, they must put and keep Johan Holmqvist in net.
Before tonight's game, Holmqvist played in only two of the Lightning's last ten games as coach John Tortorella decided to play rookie netminder Kari Ramo. Well, the Ramo experiment did not work out as the 21-year-old Finnish netminder was 2-5-1 with a 3.20 GAA and a .895 save percentage. While Ramo has a better save percentage than the veteran Holmqvist, Holmqvist's record is now 14-13-4 after tonight's 5-3 win.
The Lightning have a young defense with Doug Janik, Mike Lundin and second-year player Shane O'Brien comprising half of the Lightning's blueliners. They definitely need a veteran in between the pipes and for now Johan Holmqvist is the only goaltender that fits the bill. The Lightning are in 29th place at this point in time, but they do have an outstanding four forwards in Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St. Loius, Brad Richards and Vaclav Prospal that only the top teams in Detroit and Ottawa can match. If the Lightning get the goaltending they need from Holmqvist, they can still move into a playoff position in the Eastern Conference and possibly even first place in the Southeast Division.
This is too good a team for GM Jay Feaster to break up and the eventual return of Dan Boyle will help the Lightning. Holmqvist is the key to the team and he must make the big saves, like he did tonight, if the Lightning are to contend.