Rookie Lecavalier Scores First Goal

Vincent Lecavalier gave his a parents a going-away present Sunday night.

Lecavalier, the No. 1 overall pick in the June draft, scored his first NHL goal as the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Vancouver Canucks, 3-2, at Tampa, Fla.

“I was very happy to get it in front of them. They’re leaving tomorrow,” Lecavalier said of his parents, returning to their home in Ile Bizard, Quebec. “It took me eight games, but I finally got it.”

Lecavalier scored on a low wrist shot while falling backward over goalie Garth Snow to tie the score, 1-1, at 9:38 of the first period. Sandy McCarthy set up the goal with a pass from behind the net.

“Sandy did all the work. I just had to poke it in,” Lecavalier said. “It’s over now and I’m thinking about the next game.”

Jassen Cullimore broke a 2-2 tie with a power-play goal with 12:23 left as Tampa Bay increased its winning streak to three games, the Lightning’s longest streak since a four-game run Feb. 20-25, 1997.

“We haven’t seen hockey like this in a long time,” Tampa Bay Coach Jacques Demers said. “Everybody participated in this win--every single player did what they had to do.”

Vancouver defenseman Mattias Ohlund had his first two-goal game, scoring twice on rebounds of his own shots.

Ohlund opened the scoring at 7:17 of the first period, and gave the Canucks a 2-1 lead at 8:30 of the second. Todd Bertuzzi recorded his 100th career point with an assist on Ohlund’s second goal.

Tampa Bay’s Wendel Clark tied it 43 seconds into the third period with his fifth goal of the season and 299th of his career.

Vancouver entered the game with the NHL’s second-best power play, but misfired on five chances. The Lightning went one for four.

Under the NHL’s revised divisional alignment and schedule, the game was the only regular-season contest between the two teams this season.