After bringing in Hall of Famer Steve Yzerman as general manager, the team returned to the Playoffs in 2010-2011, 2013-2014, and again the following season, when the Bolts - boasting the highest-scoring offense in the league - won 50 games and the Eastern Conference title. The Lightning flirted with Playoff success the next two seasons, but struggled for three years after that. Fedotenko scored both goals in the clinching 2-1 victory in Game 7.

The Lightning defeated the Calgary Flames in a Stanley Cup® Finals that included four games decided by one goal, two of which came in overtime. Louis, the goaltending of Nikolai Khabibulin, and the efforts of Lecavalier, Brad Richards, Fredrik Modin, Ruslan Fedotenko, Cory Stillman, and captain Dave Andreychuk.

The key ingredient was 1998 first-round draft pick Vincent Lecavalier, a center who went on to play 14 seasons for the Lightning and set almost every team scoring record.Īfter making the second round in the 2002-2003 Playoffs, the Bolts rocketed to the Stanley Cup® Finals the following season behind the league's scoring leader, Martin St. Not until 2002-2003 did the Bolts achieve any kind of consistent success. They joined the league as an expansion team along with the Ottawa Senators in 1992, and earned their first berth in the Playoffs in the 1995-1996 season. The Tampa Bay Lightning®'s climb to the elite of the NHL® was slow.

The arena has since hosted a number of high-profile sports events, including the 1999 NHL® All-Star, the 2007 ACC Men's Basketball Tournament, the 2008 NCAA Women's Final Four, the 2009 SEC Men's Basketball Tournament, and the 2012 NCAA Men's Frozen Four. The AMALIE Arena, originally called the Ice Palace, first opened in 1996 with the Lightning playing their first game on October 20 of that year, winning 5-2 over the New York Rangers. After undergoing renovations from 2011-2013, AMALIE Arena - home of the three-time Stanley Cup® Champions Tampa Bay Lightning® - is considered to be one of the premier entertainment venues in Florida.

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