LIGHTNING 3, DEVILS 2 (OT): Slowed all game, Tampa Bay ties it with 9.6 seconds left then wins it.
By DAMIAN CRISTODERO
Published March 6, 2004
TAMPA - The Lightning must be blessed.
How else to explain Friday's stunning 3-2 overtime victory over the Devils in front of a screaming, sellout crowd of 20,239 at the St. Pete Times Forum?
Captain Dave Andreychuk preferred to say the team has matured and keeps its composure in crucial situations. But that isn't nearly as much fun, especially with the way Tampa Bay pulled this one out of its ... well, you know what.
So you decide.
Flat-footed and outplayed for more than two periods, Vinny Lecavalier tied the score at 2 with 9.6 seconds left in the third period, and Andreychuk got the winner with 2:43 remaining in overtime.
Thirty saves by goalie Nikolai Khabibulin were huge as were two pretty passes by defenseman Pavel Kubina, who assisted on Tampa Bay's final two goals.
Andreychuk sparked his own goal with a smart but simple play at the Devils blue line.
"In years past, we would have been fortunate to win," Andreychuk said. "But the team has grown. We know we have the firepower to win."
"Just find a way to win, baby," defenseman Brad Lukowich said.
"It doesn't have to be pretty every night."
The Lightning's 38th victory tied the team record set in 1995-96 and clinched the four-game season series with the defending Stanley Cup champions with a 3-0 advantage.
It also was a franchise-best seventh consecutive victory and increased Tampa Bay's streak of points earned to a team-record 14 (11-0-1-2).
With 88 points, the Lightning is No. 1 in the East (it has more victories than the Flyers, who also have 88 points), but remained one point behind the Red Wings for the Presidents' Cup.
"That's good stuff in the room," Lightning coach John Tortorella said.
"It will be hard to swallow this one," Devils coach Pat Burns said. "I don't know what to say. They didn't dominate us. They dominated us for a minute and 30 seconds."
True.
The Devils outshot the Lightning 32-22, including 15-6 in the second period, played their trap to a tee and were proficient at clogging the slot in front of goalie Martin Brodeur.
Tampa Bay wasn't sharp, either, and Lukowich called it "boneheaded" that players kept trying to find a passage through the middle rather than sticking to the game plan of going around the edges. That the Lightning led 1-0 after the first period on Dmitry Afanasenkov's slick goal was a bonus.
New Jersey tied it in the second with John Madden's first goal in 30 games, a sharp-angle shot that went in off Khabibullin's left pad.
It took a 2-1 lead with 6:04 left on Jeff Friesen's wrist shot that came after he turned defenseman Darryl Sydor around with a right-to-left move toward the slot.
But Khabibulin was sharp the rest of the way and won his seventh consecutive game and record 78th for the Lightning.
"Khabibulin made some great saves when the game was 2-1 to keep them in the game," Brodeur said. "If it was any other goalie, this game would have been over."
Instead, Tampa Bay got chances to make some plays.
Kubina passed to Lecavalier in the slot, and the center ripped his 27th goal under Brodeur's right arm. Cory Stillman fed perfectly to a wide-open Andreychuk, who scored his 15th goal with a backhander.
Andreychuk started the play by capturing the puck near the Devils blue line and passing cross-ice into an area that allowed Kubina to get it and pass to Stillman.
Meanwhile, Andreychuk sneaked unimpeded toward Brodeur and received Stillman's pass to the goalie's right.
"Just a terrific play," Tortorella said. "Those are the little things that go on in a game. For a guy like that, this is what he does."
"To be on top, those are the games you've got to win," Lukowich said. "You have to find a way no matter what."
