OTTAWA – Martin St. Louis kept the defending Stanley Cup champions out of an 0-2 hole to start the playoffs.

St. Louis scored his second goal of the game 6:19 into the third, and the Tampa Bay Lightning battled back twice for a 4-3 win over the Ottawa Senators last night, evening the Eastern Conference series at 1-1.

John Grahame made 22 saves for his first win in four career playoff games and Tampa Bay captain Brad Richards had three points, including his first goal of the series to give the Lightning a 2-1 in the second period.

St. Louis tied it at 1 in the first and put the Lightning ahead for good 55 seconds after Tampa Bay defenseman Dan Boyle scored to make it 3-3.

Rookie Ray Emery stopped 32 shots for Ottawa.

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OILERS 4, RED WINGS 3 In Detroit, Brad Winchester and Fernando Pisani scored less than a minute apart late in the second period to rally the Edmon ton Oilers to a 4-2 victory over the topseeded Detroit Red Wings yesterday and tie their first-round playoff series.

Dwayne Roloson made 33 saves for the Oilers, who also got goals from Chris Pronger and Jarret Stoll to get even 1-1 in the best-of-seven Western Conference matchup. Edmonton trailed 2-1 before Winchester and Pisani connected.

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SHARKS 3, PREDATORS 0 In Nashville, Tenn., the San Jose Sharks cleaned up their act after giving up four power-play goals in the playoff opener, and Jonathan Cheechoo had a goal and two assists to get the Sharks even with Nashville in their first-round series with a 3-0 shutout win.

The Sharks quickly neutralized this season’s best home-ice advantage by scoring three power-play goals in the first period, including two on 5-on-3s.

Patrick Marleau also had a goal and assist, and Mark Smith got his second goal of the postseason.