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Tampa Bay makes a point, takes one in top-two tussle

LIGHTNING 1, RED WINGS 1: Fredrik Modin's goal in the third period signals Tampa Bay's presence among the elite, keeps it atop the NHL and clinches the Southeast Division.

DETROIT - No Lightning player said it before Monday night's game, but the matchup with the Red Wings was a measuring stick.

No. 1 in the East vs. No.1 in the West. New blood trying to establish itself against old.

Well, guess what? The Lightning measured up and, with a gritty 1-1 tie in front of a sellout crowd of 20,066 at Joe Louis Arena, became the first team to clinch a playoff spot.

Tampa Bay's 91 points kept it one point ahead of Detroit in the race for the Presidents' Trophy and clinched its second straight Southeast Division title.

The second-place Panthers will have 91 points if they win their remaining 13 games, but will fall two wins short of the Lightning's team-record 39.

"It feels good," left wing Fredrik Modin said. "I wasn't even thinking about it. But it's fun."

Darn right it was.

In one of the most well-played and exciting games of the season - go ahead, call it a playoff atmosphere - Modin scored his 23rd goal with 7:21 remaining in the third period. Tomas Holmstrom opened the scoring with 4:41 left in the second.

And goalies Nikolai Khabibulin and Manny Legace put on a clinic.

Khabibulin, like Tampa Bay, lost his franchise-best eight-game winning streak, but his 28 saves helped ensure the Lightning's team-record 16-game run with points (12-0-2-2) remained intact.

Legace made his sixth consecutive start because of Curtis Joseph's sprained ankle and had 37 saves, and Tampa Bay held a 38-29 shot advantage.

"It was pretty exciting," Khabibulin said. "You could feel there was pressure at times. Neither team wanted to make a mistake."

"It was a good game," coach John Tortorella said. "Both teams had chances. I thought both goalies made some great saves at key times."

Khabibulin saved the point when he stoned Nicklas Lidstrom from the slot with a glove save with 14.2 seconds left in the third.

Legace stopped Brad Richards' breakaway in the second period. He dived to glove Martin St. Louis' shot from the slot and then Ruslan Fedotenko's rebound try with 12:12 left in the third.

And he gave Vinny Lecavalier fits by stopping five shots, including a semi-breakaway in the game's first minute.

Lecavalier also said he hit the post on a shot from Legace's left with 43.9 seconds remaining in the third.

"Every time I tried to pick my shot up a little, there always seemed to be someone holding my stick or my hand," Lecavalier said. "But he made a lot of great saves."

"They just kept coming and coming," Legace said. "A bunch of young guys playing well."

They played even better after Holmstrom's goal in which he split defenders Brad Lukowich and Dan Boyle and popped a shot over Khabibulin's shoulder.

Tampa Bay outshot the 10-time Stanley Cup champs 14-8 in the third period and cashed in when Brad Richards' pass hit Cory Stillman's stick at Legace's left and bounced to Modin at his right.

For good measure, Tampa Bay held Detroit's Brett Hull to two shots, both in overtime.

"Any time you play one of the top teams, you use the game as a little bit of a measuring stick," Modin said. "But we have high confidence in ourselves. We felt we played well. To get a point out of it is not too bad."

In fact, it was pretty darn good.