On This Date in Sports May 22, 2004
In collaboration with the Sportsecyclopedia.com
The Tampa Bay Lightning hold off the Philadelphia Flyers 2-1 in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals at the St. Pete Times Forum. With the win the Lightning advance to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in franchise history. In winning Game 7, Tampa bounces back from a gut-wrenching overtime loss in Game 6. In Game 7 Nikolai Khabibulin stars in goal stopping 22 of 23 shots.
The Tampa Bay Lightning were the first team in the NHL from the sunshine state in 1993. The team struggled in its first decade, making just one playoff appearance in 1996, losing in the first round to the Philadelphia Flyers. Despite their struggles, the Lightning developed a loyal fan base on Florida’s Gulf Coast. In 2003, they won their first playoff series, making it into the second round, where they would be beaten by the eventual Stanley Cup Champion New Jersey Devils.
Coached by John Tortorella the Lightning were even better in 2004, as they finished 46-22-8 to post the best record in the Eastern Conference. Tampa got a career year out of Martin St. Louis, who had 38 goals and 56 assists to win the Art Ross Trophy as the league’s leading scorer with 94 points, while also winning the Hart Trophy as the NHL MVP. The Lightning also got solid seasons from Cory Stillman, Brad Richards, and Vincent Lecavalier.
In the playoffs the Lightning got off to a big start, beating the New York Islanders in five games as Nikolai Khabibulin had shutouts in three of the first four games. Khabibulin added a fourth shutout in the opener of the second round series against the Montreal Canadiens, a series they would sweep in four straight games to reach the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in franchise history. The Philadelphia Flyers were the third seed at 40-21-15, in the playoffs, they knocked off the defending champion New Jersey Devils in five games and beat the Toronto Maple Leafs in six games to reach the Conference Finals.
In the opener again the Flyers, Tampa got off to a good start winning Game 1 at home 3-1. The Flyers though with a 6-2 win in Game 2, as Nikolai Khabibulin was pulled for John Grahame in the second period. Khabibulin was much better in Game 3 at the Wachovia Center, stopping 24 of 25 shots as the Lightning won 4-1. The Flyers evened the series with a 3-2 win in Game 4 as the teams alternated wins throughout the series. In Game 5, the Lightning won 4-2 with Brad Richards scoring twice. With two goals from Vincent Lecavalier and Ruslan Fedotenko, the Lightning held a 4-3 lead in the third period. As they were closing in on reaching the Stanley Cup Finals, the Lightning were stunned with 1:49 left Keith Primeau tied the game and forced overtime, where the Flyers would win 5-4 on a goal by Sam Gagne. In Game 7 at Tampa, the Lightning got a power-play goal from Fedotenko with Fredrik Modin making it 2-0 in the second period. The Flyers got a goal by Kim Johnsson to make it 2-1 midway through the second period, but could not get any closer as Nikolai Khabibulin made 22 saves, with the Lightning winning 2-1 to win the Eastern Conference Championship. The Lightning would go on to win the Stanley Cup, beating the Calgary Flames in a seven-game battle.