2003–04 Tampa Bay Lightning season

The 2003–04 Tampa Bay Lightning season was the 12th National Hockey League season in Tampa, Florida. The Lightning won their first Stanley Cup this season.

2003–04 Tampa Bay Lightning
Stanley Cup champions
Eastern Conference champions
Southeast Division champions
Division	1st Southeast
Conference	1st Eastern
2003–04 record	46–22–8–6
Home record	24–10–4–3
Road record	22–12–4–3
Goals for	245
Goals against	192
Team information
General Manager	Jay Feaster
Coach	John Tortorella
Captain	Dave Andreychuk
Alternate captains	Vincent Lecavalier Fredrik Modin
Arena	St. Pete Times Forum
Average attendance	17,820 (92.79%)
Team leaders
Goals	Martin St. Louis (38)
Assists	Martin St. Louis (56)
Points	Martin St. Louis (94)
Penalties in minutes	Chris Dingman (140)
Wins	Nikolai Khabibulin (28)
Goals against average	John Grahame (2.06)

Offseason

The Lightning did not have a first-round pick. For their first pick, they chose Mike Egener in the second round, 35th over-all.

Regular season

On Saturday, December 27, 2003, the Lightning scored three short-handed goals in a 4-2 win over the Boston Bruins.^[1]

The Lightning finished the regular season having tied the Detroit Red Wings for the most short-handed goals scored, with 15.^[2]

Season standings

Southeast Division^[3]

No.	CR		GP	W	L	T	OTL	GF	GA	PTS
1	1	Tampa Bay Lightning	82	46	22	8	6	245	192	106
2	10	Atlanta Thrashers	82	33	37	8	4	214	243	78
3	11	Carolina Hurricanes	82	28	34	14	6	172	209	76
4	12	Florida Panthers	82	28	35	15	4	188	221	75
5	14	Washington Capitals	82	23	46	10	3	186	253	59

Note: CR = Conference rank; GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; OTL = Overtime loss; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points
         Bolded teams qualified for the playoffs.

Eastern Conference^[4]

R		Div	GP	W	L	T	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	Z- Tampa Bay Lightning	SE	82	46	22	8	6	245	192	106
2	Y- Boston Bruins	NE	82	41	19	15	7	209	188	104
3	Y- Philadelphia Flyers	AT	82	40	21	15	6	209	188	101
4	X- Toronto Maple Leafs	NE	82	45	24	10	3	242	204	103
5	X- Ottawa Senators	NE	82	43	23	10	6	262	189	102
6	X- New Jersey Devils	AT	82	43	25	12	2	213	164	100
7	X- Montreal Canadiens	NE	82	41	30	7	4	208	192	93
8	X- New York Islanders	AT	82	38	29	11	4	237	210	91
8.5
9	Buffalo Sabres	NE	82	37	34	7	4	220	221	85
10	Atlanta Thrashers	SE	82	33	37	8	4	214	243	78
11	Carolina Hurricanes	SE	82	28	34	14	6	172	209	76
12	Florida Panthers	SE	82	28	35	15	4	188	221	75
13	New York Rangers	AT	82	27	40	7	8	206	250	69
14	Washington Capitals	SE	82	23	46	10	3	186	253	59
15	Pittsburgh Penguins	AT	82	23	47	8	4	190	303	58

Divisions: AT – Atlantic, NE – Northeast, SE – Southeast

Z- Clinched Conference; Y- Clinched Division; X- Clinched Playoff spot

Schedule and results

Regular season

2003–04 regular season game log

October: 6–0–1–0, 13 points (Home: 4–0–1–0; Road: 2–0–0–0)

Game	Date	Opponent	Score	OT	Decision	Location	Attendance	Record	Points	Recap
1	October 10	Boston Bruins	5–1		Khabibulin	St. Pete Times Forum	20,454	1–0–0–0	2	[5]
2	October 16	Phoenix Coyotes	5–1		Khabibulin	St. Pete Times Forum	12,784	2–0–0–0	4	[6]
3	October 18	@ New Jersey Devils	3–2		Khabibulin	Continental Airlines Arena	15,590	3–0–0–0	6	[7]
4	October 21	Atlanta Thrashers	3–2	OT	Khabibulin	St. Pete Times Forum	14,822	4–0–0–0	8	[8]
5	October 23	@ Columbus Blue Jackets	1–0		Grahame	Nationwide Arena	16,542	5–0–0–0	10	[9]
6	October 25	Minnesota Wild	3–2		Khabibulin	St. Pete Times Forum	16,223	6–0–0–0	12	[10]
7	October 30	San Jose Sharks	2–2	OT	Khabibulin	St. Pete Times Forum	17,609	6–0–1–0	13	[11]

November: 5–4–3–1, 14 points (Home: 4–2–1–1; Road: 1–2–2–0)

Game	Date	Opponent	Score	OT	Decision	Location	Attendance	Record	Points	Recap
8	November 1	Carolina Hurricanes	4–3		Khabibulin	St. Pete Times Forum	16,616	7–0–1–0	15	[12]
9	November 4	Washington Capitals	1–5		Khabibulin	St. Pete Times Forum	14,312	7–1–1–0	15	[13]
10	November 6	Los Angeles Kings	0–1	OT	Grahame	St. Pete Times Forum	14,287	7–1–1–1	16	[14]
11	November 8	Pittsburgh Penguins	9–0		Khabibulin	St. Pete Times Forum	18,262	8–1–1–1	18	[15]
12	November 9	@ Carolina Hurricanes	1–1	OT	Grahame	RBC Center	9,821	8–1–2–1	19	[16]
13	November 11	@ Florida Panthers	0–4		Khabibulin	Office Depot Center	13,214	8–2–2–1	19	[17]
14	November 14	@ Washington Capitals	5–2		Grahame	MCI Center	14,536	9–2–2–1	21	[18]
15	November 20	New York Islanders	3–2		Khabibulin	St. Pete Times Forum	14,898	10–2–2–1	23	[19]
16	November 22	Buffalo Sabres	2–1		Grahame	St. Pete Times Forum	20,112	11–2–2–1	25	[20]
17	November 23	@ Carolina Hurricanes	0–0		Khabibulin	RBC Center	10,391	11–2–3–1	26	[21]
18	November 25	New York Rangers	0–2		Khabibulin	St. Pete Times Forum	16,034	11–3–3–1	26	[22]
19	November 28	St. Louis Blues	2–2		Khabibulin	St. Pete Times Forum	18,787	11–3–4–1	27	[23]
20	November 28	@ Atlanta Thrashers	1–2		Grahame	Philips Arena	16,847	11–4–4–1	27	[24]

December: 4–9–2–0, 10 points (Home: 1–4–1–0; Road: 3–5–1–0)

Game	Date	Opponent	Score	OT	Decision	Location	Attendance	Record	Points	Recap
21	December 2	@ Montreal Canadiens	2–3		Khabibulin	Bell Centre	19,858	11–5–4–1	27	[25]
22	December 4	Ottawa Senators	1–4		Grahame	St. Pete Times Forum	15,221	11–6–4–1	27	[26]
23	December 6	@ Buffalo Sabres	3–1		Khabibulin	HSBC Arena	15,833	12–6–4–1	29	[27]
24	December 7	@ New York Rangers	3–2		Grahame	Madison Square Garden	18,200	13–6–4–1	31	[28]
25	December 9	@ New York Islanders	2–5		Khabibulin	Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum	10,860	13–7–4–1	31	[29]
26	December 11	@ Ottawa Senators	2–3		Khabibulin	Corel Centre	17,256	13–8–4–1	31	[30]
27	December 13	Montreal Canadiens	2–5		Grahame	St. Pete Times Forum	17,228	13–9–4–1	31	[31]
28	December 16	@ Toronto Maple Leafs	0–3		Khabibulin	Air Canada Centre	19,331	13–10–4–1	31	[32]
29	December 18	@ Philadelphia Flyers	5–4	OT	Khabibulin	Wachovia Center	19,332	14–10–4–1	33	[33]
30	December 20	Dallas Stars	1–2		Khabibulin	St. Pete Times Forum	16,233	14–11–4–1	33	[34]
31	December 23	@ Boston Bruins	1–1	OT	Khabibulin	FleetCenter	13,266	14–11–5–1	34	[35]
32	December 26	@ Atlanta Thrashers	1–3		Khabibulin	Philips Arena	18,545	14–12–5–1	34	[36]
33	December 27	Boston Bruins	4–2		Grahame	St. Pete Times Forum	19,942	15–12–5–1	36	[37]
34	December 29	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	0–2		Khabibulin	St. Pete Times Forum	17,662	15–13–5–1	36	[38]
35	December 31	Florida Panthers	2–2	OT	Khabibulin	St. Pete Times Forum	15,234	15–13–6–1	37	[39]

January: 11–3–0–2, 24 points (Home: 4–1–0–1; Road: 7–2–0–1)

Game	Date	Opponent	Score	OT	Decision	Location	Attendance	Record	Points	Recap
36	January 2	Columbus Blue Jackets	0–2		Grahame	St. Pete Times Forum	13,609	15–14–6–1	37	[40]
37	January 3	Philadelphia Flyers	6–1		Khabibulin	St. Pete Times Forum	19,242	16–14–6–1	39	[41]
38	January 6	@ Ottawa Senators	2–5		Khabibulin	Corel Centre	16,890	16–15–6–1	39	[42]
39	January 8	@ Montreal Canadiens	4–1		Grahame	Bell Centre	20,706	17–15–6–1	41	[43]
40	January 9	@ New Jersey Devils	4–1		Grahame	Continental Airlines Arena	19,040	18–15–6–1	43	[44]
41	January 11	@ New York Rangers	2–1	OT	Grahame	Madison Square Garden	18,200	19–15–6–1	45	[45]
42	January 13	@ Pittsburgh Penguins	3–1		Grahame	Mellon Arena	10,039	20–15–6–1	47	[46]
43	January 15	Carolina Hurricanes	5–4		Khabibulin	St. Pete Times Forum	19,909	21–15–6–1	49	[47]
44	January 17	@ Florida Panthers	1–2		Grahame	Office Depot Center	19,250	21–16–6–1	49	[48]
45	January 19	Colorado Avalanche	4–5	OT	Khabibulin	St. Pete Times Forum	19,212	21–16–6–2	50	[49]
46	January 21	@ Vancouver Canucks	4–5	OT	Khabibulin	General Motors Place	18,630	21–16–6–3	51	[50]
47	January 22	@ Edmonton Oilers	3–2		Grahame	Rexall Place	16,839	22–16–6–3	53	[51]
48	January 24	@ Calgary Flames	6–2		Grahame	Pengrowth Saddledome	17,109	23–16–6–3	55	[52]
49	January 27	@ Pittsburgh Penguins	6–2		Grahame	Mellon Arena	9,931	24–16–6–3	57	[53]
50	January 29	Pittsburgh Penguins	5–1		Khabibulin	St. Pete Times Forum	15,847	25–16–6–3	59	[54]
51	January 31	Atlanta Thrashers	5–2		Grahame	St. Pete Times Forum	20,762	26–16–6–3	61	[55]

February: 9–1–1–2, 21 points (Home: 5–0–1–0; Road: 4–1–0–2)

Game	Date	Opponent	Score	OT	Decision	Location	Attendance	Record	Points	Recap
52	February 2	@ Philadelphia Flyers	2–1		Khabibulin	Wachovia Center	19,048	27–16–6–3	63	[56]
53	February 3	@ Washington Capitals	1–2		Khabibulin	MCI Center	13,085	27–17–6–3	63	[57]
54	February 5	@ Nashville Predators	5–2		Khabibulin	Gaylord Entertainment Center	9,879	28–17–6–3	65	[58]
All-Star Break (February 6–9)
55	February 10	Toronto Maple Leafs	4–4	OT	Khabibulin	St. Pete Times Forum	17,222	28–17–7–3	66	[59]
56	February 12	Montreal Canadiens	5–3		Grahame	St. Pete Times Forum	15,644	29–17–7–3	68	[60]
57	February 14	Florida Panthers	3–2		Grahame	St. Pete Times Forum	18,888	30–17–7–3	70	[61]
58	February 17	Philadelphia Flyers	5–2		Khabibulin	St. Pete Times Forum	17,545	31–17–7–3	72	[62]
59	February 19	@ St. Louis Blues	3–4	OT	Khabibulin	Savvis Center	17,973	31–17–7–4	73	[63]
60	February 20	@ Buffalo Sabres	3–4	OT	Grahame	HSBC Arena	18,124	31–17–7–5	74	[64]
61	February 23	@ Washington Capitals	6–3		Khabibulin	MCI Center	16,051	32–17–7–5	76	[65]
62	February 25	@ Atlanta Thrashers	4–2		Khabibulin	Philips Arena	14,667	33–17–7–5	78	[66]
63	February 26	Toronto Maple Leafs	4–3		Khabibulin	St. Pete Times Forum	19,909	34–17–7–5	80	[67]
64	February 28	Washington Capitals	4–2		Khabibulin	St. Pete Times Forum	20,124	35–17–7–5	82	[68]

March: 10–4–1–1, 22 points (Home: 5–2–0–1; Road: 5–2–1–0)

Game	Date	Opponent	Score	OT	Decision	Location	Attendance	Record	Points	Recap
65	March 1	@ Colorado Avalanche	3–0		Khabibulin	Pepsi Center	18,007	36–17–7–5	84	[69]
66	March 3	@ Chicago Blackhawks	5–3		Khabibulin	United Center	10,702	37–17–7–5	86	[70]
67	March 5	New Jersey Devils	3–2	OT	Khabibulin	St. Pete Times Forum	20,239	38–17–7–5	88	[71]
68	March 6	@ Florida Panthers	5–3		Khabibulin	Office Depot Center	17,509	39–17–7–5	90	[72]
69	March 8	@ Detroit Red Wings	1–1	OT	Khabibulin	Joe Louis Arena	20,066	39–17–8–5	91	[73]
70	March 10	@ Carolina Hurricanes	4–2		Grahame	RBC Center	13,531	40–17–8–5	93	[74]
71	March 12	New York Rangers	5–2		Khabibulin	St. Pete Times Forum	20,026	41–17–8–5	95	[75]
72	March 13	Carolina Hurricanes	1–5		Grahame	St. Pete Times Forum	20,237	41–18–8–5	95	[76]
73	March 16	New York Islanders	1–3		Khabibulin	St. Pete Times Forum	19,914	41–19–8–5	95	[77]
74	March 18	Buffalo Sabres	1–3		Khabibulin	St. Pete Times Forum	19,946	42–19–8–5	97	[78]
75	March 20	@ Boston Bruins	4–5		Khabibulin	FleetCenter	17,565	42–20–8–5	97	[79]
76	March 21	@ New York Islanders	0–3		Grahame	Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum	14,447	42–21–8–5	97	[80]
77	March 23	@ Toronto Maple Leafs	7–2		Grahame	Air Canada Centre	19,452	43–21–8–5	99	[81]
78	March 25	New Jersey Devils	2–1		Khabibulin	St. Pete Times Forum	19,013	44–21–8–5	101	[82]
79	March 27	Washington Capitals	4–1		Khabibulin	St. Pete Times Forum	18,812	45–21–8–5	103	[83]
80	March 29	Ottawa Senators	4–5	OT	Khabibulin	St. Pete Times Forum	19,844	45–21–8–6	104	[84]

March: 1–1–0–0, 2 points (Home: 1–1–0–0; Road: 0–0–0–0)

Game	Date	Opponent	Score	OT	Decision	Location	Attendance	Record	Points	Recap
81	April 1	Florida Panthers	4–3		Grahame	St. Pete Times Forum	17,726	46–21–8–6	106	[85]
82	April 3	Atlanta Thrashers	1–2		Khabibulin	St. Pete Times Forum	20,244	46–22–8–6	106	[86]

Lightning score listed first;   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Tie (1 point)   Overtime loss (1 point)

Playoffs

See also: 2004 Stanley Cup Playoffs

Eastern Conference Quarter-finals vs. New York Islanders (8) – Tampa Bay wins series 4–1

Game	Date	Opponent	Score	OT	Decision	Location	Attendance	Series	Recap
1	April 8	New York Islanders	3–0		Khabibulin	St. Pete Times Forum	18,536	1–0	[87]
2	April 10	New York Islanders	0–3		Khabibulin	St. Pete Times Forum	19,982	1–1	[88]
3	April 12	@ New York Islanders	3–0		Khabibulin	Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum	16,234	2–1	[89]
4	April 14	@ New York Islanders	3–0		Khabibulin	Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum	16,234	3–1	[90]
5	April 16	New York Islanders	3–2	4:07 OT	Khabibulin	St. Pete Times Forum	20,927	4–1	[91]

Eastern Conference Semi-finals vs. Montreal Canadiens (7) – Tampa Bay wins series 4–0

Game	Date	Opponent	Score	OT	Decision	Location	Attendance	Series	Recap
1	April 23	Montreal Canadiens	4–0		Khabibulin	St. Pete Times Forum	18,904	1–0	[92]
2	April 25	Montreal Canadiens	3–1		Khabibulin	St. Pete Times Forum	19,435	2–0	[93]
3	April 27	@ Montreal Canadiens	3–2	1:05 OT	Khabibulin	Bell Centre	21,273	3–0	[94]
4	April 29	@ Montreal Canadiens	3–1		Khabibulin	Bell Centre	21,273	4–0	[95]

Eastern Conference Finals vs. Philadelphia Flyers (3) – Tampa Bay wins series 4–3

Game	Date	Opponent	Score	OT	Decision	Location	Attendance	Series	Recap
1	May 8	Philadelphia Flyers	3–1		Khabibulin	St. Pete Times Forum	21,425	1–0	[96]
2	May 10	Philadelphia Flyers	2–6		Khabibulin	St. Pete Times Forum	21,314	1–1	[97]
3	May 13	@ Philadelphia Flyers	4–1		Khabibulin	Wachovia Center	19,897	2–1	[98]
4	May 15	@ Philadelphia Flyers	2–3		Khabibulin	Wachovia Center	19,872	2–2	[99]
5	May 18	Philadelphia Flyers	4–2		Khabibulin	St. Pete Times Forum	21,517	3–2	[100]
6	May 20	@ Philadelphia Flyers	4–5	18:18 OT	Khabibulin	Wachovia Center	19,910	3–3	[101]
7	May 22	Philadelphia Flyers	2–1		Khabibulin	St. Pete Times Forum	22,117	4–3	[102]

Stanley Cup Finals vs. Calgary Flames (6) – Tampa Bay wins series 4–3

Game	Date	Opponent	Score	OT	Decision	Location	Attendance	Series	Recap
1	May 25	Calgary Flames	1–4		Khabibulin	St. Pete Times Forum	21,674	0–1	[103]
2	May 27	Calgary Flames	4–1		Khabibulin	St. Pete Times Forum	22,222	1–1	[104]
3	May 29	@ Calgary Flames	0–3		Khabibulin	Pengrowth Saddledome	19,221	1–2	[105]
4	May 31	@ Calgary Flames	1–0		Khabibulin	Pengrowth Saddledome	19,221	2–2	[106]
5	June 3	Calgary Flames	2–3	14:40 OT	Khabibulin	St. Pete Times Forum	22,426	2–3	[107]
6	June 5	@ Calgary Flames	3–2	0:33 2OT	Khabibulin	Pengrowth Saddledome	19,221	3–3	[108]
7	June 7	Calgary Flames	2–1		Khabibulin	St. Pete Times Forum	22,717	4–3	[109]

Player stats

Forwards

Note: GP= Games played; G= Goals; A= Assists; PTS = Points; PIM = Points

Player	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM
Martin St. Louis	82	38	56	94	24
Cory Stillman	81	25	55	80	36
Brad Richards	82	26	53	79	12
Vincent Lecavalier	81	32	34	66	52
Fredrik Modin	82	29	28	57	32
Dave Andreychuk	82	21	18	39	42
Ruslan Fedotenko	77	17	22	39	30
Tim Taylor	82	7	15	22	25
Dmitry Afanasenkov	71	6	10	16	12
Martin Cibak	63	2	7	9	30
Chris Dingman	74	1	5	6	140
Shane Willis	12	0	6	6	2
Alexandr Svitov	11	0	3	3	4
Andre Roy	33	1	1	2	78
Eric Perrin	4	0	0	0	0

Defensemen

Note: GP= Games played; G= Goals; A= Assists; PTS = Points; PIM = Points

Player	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM
Dan Boyle	78	9	30	39	60
Pavel Kubina	81	17	18	35	85
Brad Lukowich	79	5	14	19	24
Cory Sarich	82	3	16	19	89
Ben Clymer	66	2	8	10	50
Jassen Cullimore	79	2	5	7	58
Darryl Sydor	31	1	6	7	6
Nolan Pratt	58	1	3	4	42
Darren Rumble	5	0	0	0	2
Stan Neckar	--	--	--	--	--

Goaltending

Note: GP= Games played; W= Wins; L= Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals Against

Player	GP	W	L	T	SO	GAA
Nikolai Khabibulin	55	28	19	7	3	2.33
John Grahame	29	18	9	1	1	2.06

Awards and records

• Brad Richards, Conn Smythe Trophy
• Brad Richards, Lady Byng Memorial Trophy
• Martin St. Louis, Art Ross Trophy
• Martin St. Louis, Hart Memorial Trophy
• Martin St. Louis, Lester B. Pearson Award
• Martin St. Louis, NHL Plus/Minus Award, (shared with Marek Malik of the Vancouver Canucks)
• John Tortorella, Jack Adams Award

Draft picks

NHL draft

See also: 2003 NHL Entry Draft

Round	#	Player	Position	Nationality	College/junior/club team
2	34	Mike Egener	Defence	Germany	Calgary Hitmen (WHL)
2	41	Matt Smaby	Defence	United States	Shattuck-Saint Mary's (Midget Major AAA)
3	96	Jonathan Boutin	Goalie	Canada	Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL)
6	192	Doug O'Brien	Defense	Canada	Hull Olympiques (QMJHL)
7	224	Gerald Coleman	Goalie	United States	London Knights (OHL)
7	227	Jay Rosehill	Left Wing	Canada	Olds Grizzlys (AJHL)
8	255	Raimonds Danilics	Forward	Latvia	Stalkers (LHL)
8	256	Brady Greco	Defense	United States	Chicago Steel (USHL)
9	273	Albert Vishnyakov	Left Wing	Russia	Ak Bars Kazan (KHL)
9	286	Zbyněk Hrdel	Center	Czech Republic	Rimouski Océanic (QMJHL)
9	287	Nick Tarnasky	Center	Canada	Lethbridge Hurricanes (WHL)