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Just the third series of the tournament so far to reach a seventh game, but this is the only one of those to feature a team losing a 3-0 series lead as the ’98-’99 Carolina Hurricanes did here. The Canes took the first three games in the series by scores of 3-1, 5-3 and 3-2 before the ’03-’04 Tampa Bay Lightning won the final four games. Tampa took Game’s 4 and 5 by scores of 3-2 and 1-0, with Brad Richards scoring the lone goal in Game 5. The Lightning then came out and dominated Game 6 by a score of 5-2 with two goals from Fredrik Modin. In Game 7, the Canes tallied first from a goal by Keith Primeau in the first period. However, Tampa would tie it in the second with a goal from Ruslan Fedotenko and would take the lead in the third with a goal from Martin St. Louis, which would be the series clincher.

Nikolai Khabibulin had a terrific series, posting a 2.14 goals against average and a .933 save percentage. He put up a shutout performance in Game 5 at home. Offensively, St. Louis led the way with two goals and five assists for seven points. Modin and Vincent Lecavalier both posted five points with Modin registering four goals and one assist and Vinny posting one goal and four assist. Fedotenko was pretty much invisible in this series until Game’s 6 and 7 where he posted all four of his points.

Arturs Irbe went save-for-save with his counterpart but faced many more shots than Khabibulin. He posted a very good .942 save percentage to go along with his 2.43 goals against average. The Canes were lead by two ageless veterans in this series. Gary Roberts posted three goals and five assists for eight points in this series. Ron Francis totaled seven points on two goals and five assists, which is the same amount he posted in the Canes’ 1st Round matchup. Both of Francis’ goals, though, came in Carolina’s Game 1 win.

Here are this series’ links:

• Game Boxscores/Results
• Team Stats
• Lightning Skater Stats
• Hurricanes Skater Stats
• Lightning Goalie Stats
• Hurricanes Goalie Stats

Three Stars of the Series:

1. CAR – G – Arturs Irbe – 3-4-0   2.43 GAA   .942 SV%   11 Star Points
2. TBL – G – Nikolai Khabibulin – 4-3-0   2.14 GAA   .933 SV%   1 SO   8 Star Points
3. TBL – RW – Ruslan Fedotenko – 2 G   2 A   4 P   +1   12 S   6 Star Points

GAME 1:

GAME SUMMARY:   CAR – 3   TBL – 1   (1-0 CAR)

1st Period:

• TBL Goal: P. Kubina (1) assisted by V. Lecavalier (1)

2nd Period:

• CAR Goal: R. Francis (3) assisted by G. Roberts (5), A. Kovalenko (2)
• CAR Goal: J. O’Neill (3) assisted by M. Gelinas (3)
• CAR Goal: R. Francis (4) assisted by G. Roberts (6)

3rd Period:

GAME 2:

GAME SUMMARY:   CAR – 5   TBL – 3   (2-0 CAR)

1st Period:

• CAR Goal: G. Wesley (3) assisted by R. Francis (6), G. Roberts (7)
• CAR Goal: N. Pratt (1) assisted by S. Kapanen (6), R. Sheppard (5)
• TBL Goal: B. Richards (1) assisted by J. Cullimore (1), M. St. Louis (1)

2nd Period:

• TBL Goal: D. Afanasenkov (1) assisted by S. Willis (1)
• CAR Goal: M. Gelinas (1)
• CAR Goal: R. Sheppard (5) assisted by S. Kapanen (7)
• TBL PP-Goal: F. Modin (1) assisted by M. St. Louis (2), V. Lecavalier (2)

3rd Period:

• CAR Goal: M. Gelinas (2) assisted by G. Wesley (6), N. Emerson (1)

GAME 3:

GAME SUMMARY:   CAR – 3   TBL – 2   (3-0 CAR)

1st Period:

• CAR Goal: G. Roberts (6) assisted by R. Francis (7), A. Kovalenko (3)

2nd Period:

• TBL Goal: S. Willis (1) assisted by D. Afanasenkov (1), D. Boyle (1)
• CAR Goal: G. Roberts (7) assisted by D. Karpa (1)
• TBL PP-Goal: M. St. Louis (1) assisted by V. Lecavalier (3), D. Boyle (2)

3rd Period:

• CAR Goal: R. Sheppard (6) assisted by P. Coffey (5)

GAME 4:

GAME SUMMARY:   TBL – 3   CAR – 2   (3-1 CAR)

1st Period:

• CAR Goal: A. Kovalenko (3) assisted by R. Francis (8), P. Coffey (7)
• TBL Goal: C. Stillman (1) unassisted

2nd Period:

• TBL PP-Goal: F. Modin (2) assisted by D. Boyle (3), M. St. Louis (3)

3rd Period:

• TBL PP-Goal: V. Lecavalier (1) assisted by M. St. Louis (4), P. Kubina (1)
• CAR Goal: G. Roberts (8) assisted by R. Sheppard (6), R. Francis (9)

GAME 5:

GAME SUMMARY: TBL – 1   CAR – 0   (3-2 CAR)

1st Period:

• TBL Goal: B. Richards (2) assisted by M. St. Louis (5), C. Stillman (1)

2nd Period:

3rd Period:

GAME 6:

GAME SUMMARY: TBL – 5   CAR – 2   (3-3 tie)

1st Period:

• TBL PP-Goal: B. Lukowich (1) assisted by B. Richards (1), C. Stillman (2)
• CAR Goal: A. Kovalenko (4) assisted by G. Roberts (8), R. Francis (10)
• TBL PP-Goal: R. Fedotenko (1) assisted by B. Richards (2), C. Stillman (3)

2nd Period:

• TBL Goal: F. Modin (3) assisted by R. Fedotenko (1), D. Boyle (4)
• TBL Goal: F. Modin (4) assisted by R. Fedotenko (2), V. Lecavalier (4)
• CAR PP-Goal: A. Kovalenko (5) assisted by G. Roberts (9), M. Malik (1)

3rd Period:

• TBL Goal: D. Andreychuk (1) assisted by P. Kubina (2)

GAME 7:

GAME SUMMARY: CAR – 1   TBL – 2   (4-3 TBL)

1st Period:

• CAR Goal: K. Primeau (6) assisted by S. Kapanen (8)

2nd Period:

• TBL Goal: R. Fedotenko (2) assisted by P. Kubina (3), F. Modin (1)

3rd Period:

• TBL Goal: M. St. Louis (2) assisted by J. Cullimore (2), C. Stillman (4)

The 16th-seeded ’03-’04 Tampa Bay Lightning advance to the 3rd Round and will face the winner of The Battle of Quebec, the #1-seeded ’76-’77 Montreal Canadiens and the 33rd-seeded ’83-’84 Quebec Nordiques.

Up next in the 2nd Round is the matchup between the 3rd-seeded ’07-’08 Detroit Red Wings and the 35th-seeded ’08-’09 Minnesota Wild.