Coach already preparing for Devils

And what John Tortorella will see is a great defense backed by star goalie Martin Brodeur.

By TOM JONES, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published April 21, 2003

WASHINGTON -- You get the feeling Lightning coach John Tortorella would take a pair of snow shoes on a vacation to the Bahamas. The guy can be demanding, rigid, intense to a fault, but more than anything, he is prepared.

The Lightning-Caps series wasn't even over, and Tortorella was getting ready for the next round. You know, just in case. As his team celebrated its first postseason series victory, Tortorella started cramming for his next opponent: the New Jersey Devils.

"I have tapes in my bag," Tortorella said.

By that, he means videotape of the Devils, which he began studying on the charter flight home from Washington on Sunday. He probably should've watched something a little more cheery, such as A Nightmare on Elm Street or A Clockwork Orange. "That's a good team we're going to be playing, a real good team," Lightning center Vinny Lecavalier said. "It's not going to be easy at all."

Just like the Caps, rightly or wrongly, had a playoff reputation as being choking dogs, the Devils have their own postseason reputation. And it's a bit more daunting than the Caps. The Devils have been to the Stanley Cup final twice in the past three years. They've won two Stanley Cups since 1995. They are 17-12 in postseason series and 94-75 in playoff games.

In other words, they ain't the Caps.

"They're a great hockey team," Tortorella said. "They're one of the best teams in the league, and we know what we're going up against."

What the Lightning will go up against is one of the deepest, grittiest, most talented teams in hockey that can win playing any style, but prefers low-scoring, tight-checking games. The Devils piled up 108 points during the regular season, 15 more than the Lightning, and allowed only 166 goals, tied for the fewest in the league with Philadelphia. They routed Boston in the first round in five games, outscoring the Bruins 13-8. The star is goaltender Martin Brodeur, who has an amazing goals-against average of 1.87 in 119 playoff appearances. And, of course, there's Robo-defenseman Scott Stevens, one of the NHL's hardest-checking defensemen and likely to be re-loading his shoulders and hips to match up against the Lightning line of Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis and Vinny Prospal. The balanced offense is led by Patrik Elias (28 goals), Jeff Friesen (23 goals), Jamie Langenbrunner (22 goals) and veteran Joe Niewendyk, the equivalent of the Lightning's Dave Andreychuk. "It only gets tougher from here," Lightning forward Fredrik Modin said. "They have a lot of experience in the playoffs, and they play a physical game and have a great goalie. They have it all."

So, does the Lightning have a chance?

Coming into the season, the Devils owned the Lightning, going 29-9-5 against Tampa Bay, including 17-3-2 in New Jersey. But this season, the Lightning held its own. Each team won once and tied twice.

"We played them pretty well," Tortorella said. "Our goaltender (Nikolai Khabibulin) is going to have to be the star."

If that happens, perhaps the Lightning does have a chance.

"The way Nik is playing right now, sure we have a chance," Modin said. "A hot goalie can win a series. You get a hot goalie, and there's no telling how far you can go. We're going to ride him."

All the way to New Jersey, and maybe beyond.