MONTREAL - So much for enjoying the moment. So much for savoring the biggest victory in team history.
Defenseman Dan Boyle sat in the locker room after the Lightning's 3-1 win over the Canadiens gave it a sweep of the East semifinals and declared, "We're not done. We're not going to be satisfied getting to the third round."
It was not long ago, just two seasons in fact, when it was satisfying enough for Tampa Bay to not have the word "lowly" automatically connected to its name. That almost is quaint after what the team accomplished Thursday night at the Bell Centre.
The Lightning didn't just advance to the conference final for the first time in its 12-season history - and, oh, by the way, it will be thrilled if the Flyers and Maple Leafs beat each other's brains out for seven games - it earned a piece of history.
Only three previous times had the Canadiens, winners of a record 24 Stanley Cups, been swept in a seven-game series. Only once, in the 1998 East final against the Sabres, had it lost the fourth game at home.
It was an added kick.
"It's not the players. It's the history and tradition you're proud to play against," center Brad Richards said. "It's special to play against the uniform and its history."
That aside, Richards said of the victory, "It's incredible. There has never been anything bigger. We wanted to take care of business. There's never any other feeling when you win. It's great."
Which is how Richards should feel. After scoring the winner in Game 3, he got another in Game 4 with 2:46 left in the second as part of a two-goal period that overcame a 1-0 deficit.
Boyle scored on the power play. Fredrik Modin's empty-net goal capped it with 55.3 seconds left in the third period, and Dave Andreychuk and Dmitry Afanasenkov had two assists each.
What else can be said about Nikolai Khabibulin, who led the team to its seventh consecutive victory? The goalie made 27 saves, 26 after Niklas Sundstrom's early first-period goal, to raise his save percentage to .964. He allowed five goals in the series.
He had a little luck. Richard Zednik hit the crossbar with 56.2 seconds left in the first period. And Sheldon Souray's screaming second-period slap shot trickled past Khabibulin and settled against the outside of the post before he covered up.
"We just didn't get the results," Zednik said. "It's not the way you want to lose. Right now, I don't have too many positive things in my mind."
It was all positive as the game started. The sellout crowd of 21,273 was deafening (even without ThunderStix) and was primed by the pregame ceremony that celebrated the team's history.
It was madness when Sundstrom scored 5:46 into the first period after Boyle gave up the puck in the Lightning zone when he said he hit a rut in the ice and fell. The players said they laughed off the miscue.
"It was early," said Brad Lukowich, Boyle's defensive partner. "If you're going to let that bother you, it's going to be an ugly night. There was tons of time in front of us. If you worry about it, you're going to make more mistakes."
"It comes down to intensity and battling," coach John Tortorella said. "If you understand that and raise it as you go through and win those battles, that's what's most important. This year, we elevated in the second round more so than the first."
Boyle evened the score with 8:03 left in the second period when Vinny Lecavalier's pass deflected sharply off Boyle's shin guard and past goalie Jose Theodore.
Richards scored his third goal in two games by roofing a backhander over Theodore after Afanasenkov picked off Jim Dowd's blind drop pass in the Lightning zone and transitioned the other way.
"It feels great," Afanasenkov said. "A big goal for us."
But not the biggest.
"We have our sights set on going all the way," Boyle said.
Romano:
