Two reunited Quebec natives team up to make it a miserable night for the franchise they rooted for as youngsters.
By DAMIAN CRISTODERO
Published April 24, 2004
TAMPA - Lightning wing Martin St. Louis said it was no big deal.
He and center Vinny Lecavalier played on the same line since January. That they are back together after a two-week break during the East quarterfinals shouldn't be a shock.
But in the aftermath of Tampa Bay's resounding 4-0 victory over the Canadiens on Friday night in Game 1 of the East semifinals at the St. Pete Times Forum, it was just about all anybody could talk about.
Lecavalier had two goals and an assist. St. Louis had three assists. For good measure, linemate Ruslan Fedotenko had a goal.
And all seemed right with the world, though St. Louis wasn't convinced.
"You're making more out of it than it really is," he said. "It's not like we're finding each other again. We're good players, and we feed off each other. It's not like Vinny doesn't know my game, and it's not like I don't know his."
What we do know is one of the best story lines of this series has begun to take shape.
Hats off to goalie Nikolai Khabibulin, who made 21 saves for his fourth playoff shutout after getting just three in the regular season. Kudos to the defense that blocked a ton of shots and most of what got through came from the outside.
And good for Dmitry Afanasenkov, who got his first playoff goal 7:20 into the third period. That was a little more than three minutes after Lecavalier's second goal and chased Canadiens goalie Jose Theodore in favor of Mathieu Garon after Theodore allowed four goals on 28 shots.
But it is the Lecavalier-St. Louis connection that is so engaging. Both grew up in the suburbs of Montreal idolizing the Canadiens; St. Louis in Laval and Lecavalier in Ile Bizard.
Don't think there isn't pressure to perform.
St. Louis' comes from a regular season in which he led the league with 94 points. Lecavalier's from the fact he had zero points against the Islanders in the quarterfinals and just one point, an assist, in his previous 10 playoff games.
In that sense, misery loves company. And that company includes Fedotenko, a good skater who gives the line another dimension with his willingness to get to the net.
"We do click together," Lecavalier said. "We knew how important this game was. It was huge to get that first win."
But if things are so good, why was the line separated for the Islanders series when Cory Stillman was with Lecavalier and Fedotenko and St. Louis took Stillman's spot with center Brad Richards and Fredrik Modin?
"No matter what line you have, at some point, you separate people and put them back together," associate coach Craig Ramsay said. "What it does is it builds up a little excitement again. "Hey, we're back together. This is fun.'
"You get a little complacent sometimes. You're going through the year playing together. Sometimes you stop really talking and really communicating. And then tossed back together and it's exciting and then you push."
Such as the way Lecavalier pushed for the puck along the side boards in the Canadiens zone and outworked Montreal's Mike Ribeiro. St. Louis grabbed the puck and passed to Fedotenko, who opened the scoring 2:52 into the second period from the slot.
Lecavalier made it 2-0 with 3:17 left in the period when he tipped in St. Louis' shot.
The game was a huge disappointment to the Canadiens, who repeatedly said they could not afford a start such as the one that helped get them into a three games to one hole against the Bruins.
But Tampa Bay dominated the first period and at one point held a 7-0 shot advantage en route to a 34-21 edge in the game, the fewest shots Tampa Bay has allowed in a home playoff game.
"We thought we had our lesson that (Friday) would have been different," Theodore said. "We didn't play the way we should."
"We beat ourselves," defenseman Craig Rivet said. "There's no doubt about it. There's no other way to look at it."
Unless you look at St. Louis and Lecavalier, though St. Louis still wasn't buying.
"It doesn't matter what me and Vinny did," he said. "The bottom line is we got the win. That's the most important thing."
