Lightning: Joy of Six

Joy of Six

After trailing 0-2 in series, the Lightning wins four straight, the capper coming on Martin St. Louis' triple OT-winner in Game 6. Nikolai Khabibulin's 60 saves and Dave Andreychuk's tying goal help set up a matchup with New Jersey.

By DAMIAN CRISTODERO, Times Staff Writer

WASHINGTON -- How does it feel to be so tired you can't even speak or, as Lightning right wing Martin St. Louis said, "lift the water bottle to your mouth"?

How does it feel to be so tired that, as defenseman Dan Boyle said, the only thing you're thinking about is "a day off"?

Whatever the feeling, it is nothing compared with the excitement of winning the East quarterfinals, four games to two, against the Capitals.

Tampa Bay put that in the books Sunday with a thrilling 2-1, triple-overtime victory at the MCI Center that, at 104 minutes, 3 seconds, is the longest game in franchise history and, right now, anyway, is its defining moment.

The game capped an extraordinary effort by the third-seeded Lightning, which lost the first two games at home but rebounded with four consecutive victories, including three in Washington, in six days.

The semifinal against the No. 2 Devils begins Thursday in New Jersey.

How does it feel to be so tired?

"It is," St. Louis said, "the greatest feeling."

St. Louis got the winner 4:03 into the third overtime with the Capitals short-handed for too many men on the ice. Dave Andreychuk's power-play goal with 4:06 left in the third period tied the score at 1.

None of that would have been possible, though, without Nikolai Khabibulin. The goalie was the sharpest he has ever been for the Lightning and made a career-high 60 saves, including one with 35.9 seconds left in the second overtime when he stoned Michael Nylander on a breakaway after Nylander stole the puck from Jassen Cullimore.

"I guess there are times when you feel good and see the play well and are ahead of the play," said Khabibulin, who was beaten only on a power play by Peter Bondra's slap shot with 2:26 left in the second period. "This is one of the better games I've played."

"He's definitely our MVP the last three games, for sure," St. Louis said.

Lightning players were on autopilot through the overtimes.

Center Tim Taylor said players were so tired, they sat silently in front of their lockers between periods, guzzling sports drinks. Boyle said there was the occasional joke, but no one laughed too hard. It would have taken too much energy.

Even coach John Tortorella left his players alone. His one-time message: "You know what you have to do."

"We've talked enough," Tortorella said. "Washington knows what we're going to do. We know what Washington is going to do. It comes down to the players."

So many times, it came down to the goaltenders. Khabibulin would be remarkable on one end. Washington's Olaf Kolzig, who made 44 saves, would match.

Kolzig made huge saves in the first overtime on St. Louis, Vinny Lecavalier and Cullimore. Lecavalier hit a post on his rebound try. Brad Richards clanked one in the second overtime.

St. Louis made sure on the winner, cruising around the Capitals net and firing high on Kolzig because, "You know he's going to go down into the butterfly."

It was St. Louis' fifth goal of the playoffs and was assisted by Lecavalier and Vinny Prospal, a trio that scored 10 of the Lightning's last 11 goals.

"All you can do is give the credit in the end," Capitals left wing Steve Konowalchuk said. "They battled hard all series. Obviously, it's tough going out like this. But they did a good job of taking care of their shots, and that's the way it goes."

Here is the way it has gone for the Lightning.

Its 93 regular-season points are a team record. It was the first Lightning team to win a division title, and by advancing to the conference semifinals, it eclipsed the 1996 team that lost in the first round to the Flyers.

"A lot of people are going to forget about that team," Taylor said. "We're the team that's going to be remembered, and that's what we wanted. We made our history."

How does that feel?

"It's a huge thing for this organization," Tortorella said.

"It feels," Taylor said, "tremendous."