2003-2004 Tampa Bay Lightning: Recharged and Renewed

2003-2004 Tampa Bay Lightning: Recharged and Renewed

2003-2004 Tampa Bay Lightning: Recharged and Renewed

Since they made their debut in the National Hockey League in 1992, the Tampa Bay Lightning were often regarded as afterthoughts and one of the laughingstocks of the league. In the 1990’s the Lightning only made 1 appearance in the playoffs, but there was skepticism as to how loyal of a hockey market the Tampa Bay/St. Petersburg area in Florida really was. In the early 2000’s, however, the funniest thing happened to this organization. The Lightning actually became a great hockey team.

In the 2003-2004 NHL season the Tampa Bay Lightning went 46-22-8-6 with 106 points, finishing in 1st place in the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The Lightning finished 28 points ahead of the Atlanta Thrashers for the division. The Lightning went 24-10-4-3 at their home ice called the St. Petersburg Times Forum, and they went 22-12-4-3 on the road.

In head-to-head play the Lightning were very solid. They went a perfect 4-0 against the Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins. They also went 4-2 against the Washington Capitals, 3-0 against the Buffalo Sabres, 3-1-2 against the Carolina Hurricanes, 3-1 against the New York Rangers, 3-2-1 against the Florida Panthers, 3-3 against the Atlanta Thrashers, 2-1-1 against the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs, and 2-2 against the Montreal Canadiens.

Though he wasn’t the Captain of the team, right winger Martin St. Louis was the most exciting player on the ice for the Lightning. St. Louis dazzled hockey fans with his crafty play as he had 38 goals and 56 assists for 94 points with 8 power play goals, 22 power play assists, 8 short-handed goals and 7 game-winning goals off 212 shots.

Center Vincent Lecavalier had 32 goals and 34 assists for 66 points with 5 power play goals, 9 power play assists and 6 game-winning goals off 242 shots. Left winger Fredrik Modin had 29 goals and 28 assists for 57 points with 5 power play goals off 206 shots. Center Brad Richards had 26 goals and 53 assists for 79 points with 5 power play goals, 21 power play assists and 6 game-winning goals off 244 shots. Left winger Cory Stillman had 25 goals and 55 assists for 80 points with 11 power play goals, 15 power play assists and 6 game-winning goals off 178 shots.

Right winger Dave Andreychuk was the Captain of the Lightning and he had 21 goals and 18 assists with 10 power play goals, 6 power play assists and 5 game-winning goals off 165 shots. Left winger Ruslan Fedotenko had 17 goals and 22 assists off 116 shots. Defenseman Pavel Kubina had 17 goals and 18 assists with 8 power play goals and 4 game-winning goals off 153 shots. Defenseman Dan Boyle had 9 goals and 30 assists with 12 power play assists off 137 shots.

Tampa Bay had 2 reliable goaltenders that they could call to at any time to shut down the opposition. Nikolai Khabibulin was the primary option as he went 28-19-7, allowing 127 goals off 1414 shots in 3274 minutes, recording 1287 saves, a .910 save percentage, a 2.33 goals against average and 3 shutouts. John Grahamme was the secondary option as he went 18-9-1, allowing 58 goals off 664 shots in 1688 minutes, recording 606 saves, a .913 save percentage, a 2.06 goals against average and 1 shutout.

The Lightning accumulated multiple winning streaks during the regular season. The team got off to a great start of the season by going on a 6-game winning streak, which began with a 5-1 win over the Boston Bruins on October 10, and it ended on October 25 with a 3-2 win over the Minnesota Wild. Later on the Lightning had another 6-game winning streak, which began with a 3-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers on January 22, and it ended on February 2 with a 2-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers. The Lightning then went on an 8-game winning streak which began with a 6-3 win over the Washington Capitals on February 23, and it ended on March 6 with a 5-3 win over the Florida Panthers.

Recharged and renewed, the playoffs was uncharted territory for the Lightning, but they went right through the competition. In the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals the Lightning faced the New York Islanders. In Game 1 on April 8 at the St Petersburg Times Forum the Lightning blanked the Islanders 3-0. The Islanders returned the favor in Game 2 by blanking the Lightning 3-0 on April 10. In Game 3 on April 12 at the Nassau Coliseum the Lightning blanked the Islanders again 3-0, and then another 3-0 shutout occurred in Tampa Bay’s favor in Game 4 on April 14.

In Game 5 on April 16 at the St. Petersburg Times Forum the Lightning pulled off a 3-2 overtime victory to send the Islanders home. Left winger and center Oleg Kvasha and right winger Mark Parrish scored goals for New York while Ruslan Fedotenko, center Tim Taylor and Martin St. Louis scored goals for Tampa Bay. St. Louis had the game-winning goal.

The Eastern Conference Semifinals saw the Lightning sweep the Montreal Canadiens 4 games to none. The Lightning blanked the Canadiens 4-0 in Game 1 on April 23, and then won Game 2 on April 25 by the score of 3-1. Game 3 on April 27 was another Tampa Bay win as the Lightning beat the Canadiens 4-3 in overtime at the Bell Centre. Brad Richards had the game-winning goal. After beating Montreal 3-1 in Game 4 on April 29, the Lightning advanced to the next round.

The Philadelphia Flyers would give the Tampa Bay Lightning all they could handle in the Eastern Conference Finals, a far cry from what happened in the regular season. The Lightning won 3-1 in Game 1 on May 8 at the St. Petersburg Times Forum, but then the Flyers won Game 2 on May 10 by the score of 6-2. In Game 3 on May 13 at the Wachovia Center the Lightning won 4-1. The Flyers responded by winning Game 4 on May 15 by the score of 4-3.

Game 5 belonged to the Lightning by the score of 4-2 on May 18 at the St. Petersburg Times Forum. Back at the Wachovia Center for Game 6 on May 20 the Flyers won 5-4 in overtime. Finally in Game 7 on May 22 at the St. Petersburg Times Forum the Lightning beat the Flyers 2-1 to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals. Defenseman Kim Johnsson had the only Flyers goal while the Lightning had goals scored by Fedotenko and Modin.

The 2004 Stanley Cup Finals was an exciting matchup pitting the Tampa Bay Lightning against the Western Conference Champion Calgary Flames. The Flames stunned the Lightning in Game 1 with a 4-1 win on May 25 at the St. Petersburg Times Forum. St. Louis scored a goal but Calgary emphatically responded with goals scored by left winger Chris Simon, center Stephane Yelle, left winger Martin Gelinas and right winger Jarome Iginla.

In Game 2 on May 27 the Lightning beat the Flames 4-1. Left winger Ville Nieminen scored the only Calgary goal while Tampa Bay countered with goals scored by Fedotenko and Boyle. St. Louis and Richards both had 1 goal and 1 assist each, with Richards getting the game-winning goal. In Game 3 on May 29 at the Pengrowth Saddledome the Flames blanked the Lightning 3-0. Iginla, Simon and right winger Shean Donovan all scored goals. In Game 4 on May 31 the Lightning blanked the Flames 1-0 as Richards came through with the game’s only goal.

In Game 5 on June 3 at the St. Petersburg Times Forum the Flames won 3-2 in overtime. St. Louis and Modin scored goals for Tampa Bay while Calgary had goals scored by Iginla, Gelinas and left winger Oleg Saprykin, who had the game-winning goal. In Game 6 on June 5 at the Pengrowth Saddledome the Lightning won an amazing double overtime contest by the score of 3-2. Calgary’s goals were scored by left winger Marcus Nilson and right winger Chris Clark. Richards had 2 goals and 1 assist for Tampa Bay while St. Louis had an assist and the game-winning goal.

Finally the last bolt struck in Game 7 on June 7 at the St. Petersburg Times Forum as the Lightning beat the Flames 2-1 to claim their first Stanley Cup in franchise history. Center Craig Conroy scored Calgary’s only goal while Ruslan Fedotenko carried the load for Tampa Bay, scoring 2 critical goals.

No mistake is made about it that the Tampa Bay Lightning of the early 2000’s was an exciting team to watch play hockey, and they caught the attention of sports fans in Florida. Fiery coach John Tortorella is credited for his guidance of this team as he won the Jack Adams Award. Brad Richards won the Conn Smythe Trophy and the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy. Martin St. Louis won the Art Ross Trophy and the Hart Memorial Trophy as well as the Lester B. Pearson Award. St. Louis shared the NHL Plus/Minus Award with Marek Malik of the Vancouver Canucks.