NHL : Holmqvist just misses shutout

Johan Holmqvist was happy with the win. His teammates were disappointed the Lightning goalie missed a shutout by seconds.

Holmqvist made 23 saves, and Vincent Lecavalier scored his 19th goal of the season in Tampa Bay’s 2-1 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night in Tampa, Fla.

“I didn’t really care, as long as we win the game,” Holmqvist said.

Holmqvist, who stopped in-close tries by Justin Williams and Cory Stillman during a Carolina power play late in the second, came within 14 seconds of his first shutout of the season and second in 77 career NHL games.

“You always want to follow through on that and it didn’t happen,” Tampa Bay coach John Tortorella said.

Holmqvist’s only shutout came last Feb. 1 at Carolina, 45 games ago.

Lecavalier put the Lightning up 1-0 on a power-play goal 16 minutes into the second.

Penguins 3, Flames 2 (SO): Defenseman Kris Letang scored in the fourth round of a shootout to give Pittsburgh a victory in teammate Sidney Crosby’s first NHL game in Calgary, Alberta.

“Mark Recchi, a career 510-goal scorer who was waived by Pittsburgh earlier this week, was assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL.

Kings 8, Sabres 2: At Los Angeles, Dustin Brown had two goals and an assist and defenseman Tom Preissing scored twice during power plays in Los Angeles’ win over Buffalo.

Canucks 5, Predators 2: At Nashville, Tenn., Daniel Sedin scored two third-period goals to lead Vancouver to a victory over Nashville.

Maple Leafs 6, Rangers 2: Nik Antropov scored a career-high three goals, chasing Henrik Lundqvist and sending Toronto past host New York for a season-high fourth straight win.

Canadiens 4, Bruins 2: Chris Higgins had a goal and two assists to help visiting Montreal defeat Boston.

“Phoenix traded goaltender Alex Auld to Boston in exchange for a minor league player and a fifth-round pick in the 2009 NHL draft.