Lightning set to push door open

The team can earn its first playoff berth since 1996 with four points in the final nine games.

By DAMIAN CRISTODERO, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published March 20, 2003

LOS ANGELES -- Four points. That's all it's going to take.

Four points (two victories in its final nine games) and the Lightning -- the Lightning -- is in the playoffs for the first time since 1996.

It's not tough to imagine the players walking on air, but they sound like their feet are planted firmly on the ground.

"We're keeping it low key," center Vinny Lecavalier said Wednesday. "I think it's better like that, so we keep focused for every game and not take any game lightly."

"Everyone knows in the back of their mind that we're really close, but nobody wants to give it some bad luck by talking about it," left wing Vinny Prospal said. "We just have to take it game to game."

With a three-game road trip beginning tonight against the Kings at the Staples Center, and continuing through Phoenix and San Jose, the Lightning could be a playoff team by the time its plane hits the ground in Tampa at 6:45 on Tuesday morning.

Two victories would give the Lightning 87 points, one more than available to the Canadiens and Rangers, the only teams not among the East's playoff-bound top eight that can catch Tampa Bay.

New York has 72 points with seven games remaining. Montreal has 70 points with eight remaining. Both can reach 86 points if they win out.

The Lightning's magic number will be reduced if the teams giving chase lose points. But it is clear Tampa Bay's players want to go through the front door to assure the franchise's second playoff appearance in its 11-year history.

"We have to look ahead, not at what other teams are doing," Lecavalier said. "We want to get there as soon as possible, that's for sure."

Tampa Bay has been on the fast track. It is 4-0-2 in its past six games, 11-2-4 in its past 17 and a staunch 4-1-2 in its past seven on the road.

"Our intensity level has picked up," coach John Tortorella said. "Our players realize this is a different kind of year and your level needs to be higher, and they've grown trying to bring their level higher every game."

They also apparently have bought in to Tortorella's insistence that they not only take one game at a time but even "one practice at a time."

"It's apples and oranges talking about playoffs and understanding that," the coach said. "It's not about playoffs, it's about going day to day, and we stress that every day. If they aren't focused, we refocus them within that day."

Not that the team isn't enjoying the run. Practices have been spirited, and Wednesday's had a playful edge.

As the team skated laps, right wing Martin St. Louis knocked the stick from the hands of defenseman Marc Bergevin and then used his own stick to keep it in the air so Bergevin could grab it. St. Louis later was mock mugged by center Tim Taylor.

"We joke around and have fun, but it's also serious," Lecavalier said. "You play like you practice, so we try to be as sharp as we can every day."

"It's a lot more fun," defenseman Pavel Kubina said. "I've been here five years. In the past four years in March we've been out of the playoffs and were counting the days and games for the season to end. Now we're in great position, fighting for the playoffs and home ice."

The Lightning will get that if it can stay in first place in the Southeast. The Capitals are two points behind and play tonight in Calgary.

That means Lightning players will take quick peeks at the scoreboard while they play the Kings. When their game is over, they will switch on the television in the locker room to see where they stand.

"Oh yeah, and we'll check in the paper every day what's going on, but it's not like we have to worry about the other teams," Prospal said. "Basically, this year, it's in our hands of how we're going to finish it."

Four points would be a nice start.