2006–07 Tampa Bay Lightning season

2006–07 Tampa Bay Lightning
Division	2nd Southeast
Conference	7th Eastern
2006–07 record	44–33–5
Home record	22–18–1
Road record	22–15–4
Goals for	253
Goals against	261
Team information
General manager	Jay Feaster
Coach	John Tortorella
Captain	Tim Taylor
Alternate captains	Vincent Lecavalier Brad Richards
Arena	St. Pete Times Forum
Average attendance	19,833
Team leaders
Goals	Vincent Lecavalier (52)
Assists	Martin St. Louis (59)
Points	Vincent Lecavalier (108)
Penalty minutes	Andre Roy (128)
Plus/minus	Nikita Alexeev (+10)
Wins	Johan Holmqvist (27)
Goals against average	Johan Holmqvist (2.85)

The 2006–07 Tampa Bay Lightning season was the 15th National Hockey League season in Tampa, Florida. The Lightning hoped to rebound from their disappointing first round exit in 2005–06. After head coach John Tortorella ripped his goaltenders during the 2006 playoffs, the Lightning pinned their hopes on Marc Denis, acquired from the Columbus Blue Jackets during the off-season.

Two Lightning players represented the Eastern Conference at the 55th National Hockey League All-Star Game in Dallas: Martin St. Louis scored a goal in the game, while Vincent Lecavalier recorded an assist.

Regular season

Season standings

Southeast Division

No.	CR		GP	W	L	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	3	Atlanta Thrashers	82	43	28	11	246	245	97
2	7	Tampa Bay Lightning	82	44	33	5	253	261	93
3	11	Carolina Hurricanes	82	40	34	8	241	253	88
4	12	Florida Panthers	82	35	31	16	247	257	86
5	14	Washington Capitals	82	28	40	14	235	286	70

Note: No. = Division rank, CR = Conference rank, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
       Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Eastern Conference

R		Div	GP	W	L	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	P - Buffalo Sabres	NE	82	53	22	7	308	242	113
2	Y - New Jersey Devils	AT	82	49	24	9	216	201	107
3	Y - Atlanta Thrashers	SE	82	43	28	11	246	245	97
4	X - Ottawa Senators	NE	82	48	25	9	288	222	105
5	X - Pittsburgh Penguins	AT	82	47	24	11	277	246	105
6	X - New York Rangers	AT	82	42	30	10	242	216	94
7	X - Tampa Bay Lightning	SE	82	44	33	5	253	261	93
8	X - New York Islanders	AT	82	40	30	12	248	240	92
8.5
9	Toronto Maple Leafs	NE	82	40	31	11	258	269	91
10	Montreal Canadiens	NE	82	42	34	6	245	256	90
11	Carolina Hurricanes	SE	82	40	34	8	241	253	88
12	Florida Panthers	SE	82	35	31	16	247	257	86
13	Boston Bruins	NE	82	35	41	6	219	289	76
14	Washington Capitals	SE	82	28	40	14	235	286	70
15	Philadelphia Flyers	AT	82	22	48	12	214	303	56

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

P – Clinched Presidents Trophy; Y – Clinched Division; X – Clinched Playoff spot

Playoffs

Tampa Bay ended the 2006–07 regular season as the Eastern Conference's seventh seed.

Schedule and results

Regular season

2006–07 regular season
October: 5–6–0 (home: 3–4–0; road: 2–2–0) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Points Recap 1 October 5 Tampa Bay 3–2 Atlanta SO Denis 17,269 1–0–0 2 Recap 2 October 7 Boston 3–2 Tampa Bay Denis 21,234 1–1–0 2 Recap 3 October 9 Atlanta 1–0 Tampa Bay Denis 19,817 1–2–0 2 Recap 4 October 13 Tampa Bay 2–3 Florida Holmqvist 15,208 1–3–0 2 Recap 5 October 14 Florida 1–4 Tampa Bay Denis 19,926 2–3–0 4 Recap 6 October 16 Carolina 5–1 Tampa Bay Denis 19,815 2–4–0 4 Recap 7 October 19 Philadelphia 1–4 Tampa Bay Denis 19,920 3–4–0 6 Recap 8 October 21 Tampa Bay 6–4 Washington Denis 13,327 4–4–0 8 Recap 9 October 26 Carolina 1–5 Tampa Bay Denis 18,826 5–4–0 10 Recap 10 October 28 Tampa Bay 4–6 Carolina Denis 18,639 5–5–0 10 Recap 11 October 29 San Jose 4–2 Tampa Bay Denis 19,904 5–6–0 10 Recap
November: 8–5–2 (home: 4–3–0; road: 4–2–2) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Points Recap 12 November 1 Toronto 4–2 Tampa Bay Denis 19,977 5–7–0 10 Recap 13 November 2 Tampa Bay 5–2 Philadelphia Holmqvist 18,633 6–7–0 12 Recap 14 November 4 Tampa Bay 5–6 Boston OT Denis 14,169 6–7–1 13 Recap 15 November 6 Tampa Bay 5–1 NY Islanders Holmqvist 9,693 7–7–1 15 Recap 16 November 8 Tampa Bay 4–3 Pittsburgh OT Holmqvist 14,483 8–7–1 17 Recap 17 November 11 Atlanta 3–5 Tampa Bay Holmqvist 20,034 9–7–1 19 Recap 18 November 15 Montreal 3–1 Tampa Bay Denis 19,920 9–8–1 19 Recap 19 November 17 NY Islanders 2–3 Tampa Bay SO Holmqvist 19,919 10–8–1 21 Recap 20 November 19 Tampa Bay 1–4 NY Rangers Holmqvist 18,200 10–9–1 21 Recap 21 November 20 Tampa Bay 2–7 Buffalo Denis 18,690 10–10–1 21 Recap 22 November 22 Tampa Bay 6–4 Florida Holmqvist 14,516 11–10–1 23 Recap 23 November 24 Atlanta 2–3 Tampa Bay OT Holmqvist 19,819 12–10–1 25 Recap 24 November 26 Ottawa 1–3 Tampa Bay Holmqvist 19,819 13–10–1 27 Recap 25 November 28 Washington 5–2 Tampa Bay Holmqvist 18,874 13–11–1 27 Recap 26 November 30 Tampa Bay 3–4 Boston SO Denis 11,150 13–11–2 28 Recap
December: 5–8–0 (home: 3–4–0; road: 2–4–0) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Points Recap 27 December 2 Tampa Bay 2–5 Ottawa Holmqvist 18,618 13–12–2 28 Recap 28 December 5 Buffalo 4–1 Tampa Bay Denis 20,025 13–13–2 28 Recap 29 December 7 Atlanta 0–8 Tampa Bay Denis 17,704 14–13–2 30 Recap 30 December 9 Anaheim 4–3 Tampa Bay Denis 18,719 14–14–2 30 Recap 31 December 12 Tampa Bay 4–5 Toronto Holmqvist 19,462 14–15–2 30 Recap 32 December 14 Tampa Bay 2–4 Montreal Denis 21,273 14–16–2 30 Recap 33 December 16 Carolina 3–2 Tampa Bay Denis 18,634 14–17–2 30 Recap 34 December 19 Tampa Bay 5–4 Washington Denis 10,417 15–17–2 32 Recap 35 December 21 Tampa Bay 4–2 Ottawa Denis 18,603 16–17–2 34 Recap 36 December 23 NY Rangers 3–4 Tampa Bay Holmqvist 20,122 17–17–2 36 Recap 37 December 26 Tampa Bay 1–2 Atlanta Holmqvist 16,356 17–18–2 36 Recap 38 December 28 Philadelphia 4–3 Tampa Bay Holmqvist 21,171 17–19–2 36 Recap 39 December 30 Montreal 1–3 Tampa Bay Holmqvist 21,120 18–19–2 38 Recap
January: 9–4–0 (home: 2–2–0; road: 7–2–0) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Points Recap 40 January 2 Tampa Bay 2–5 Montreal Holmqvist 21,273 18–20–2 38 Recap 41 January 4 Tampa Bay 3–2 Minnesota Denis 18,568 19–20–2 40 Recap 42 January 5 Tampa Bay 2–4 Colorado Denis 18,007 19–21–2 40 Recap 43 January 7 Tampa Bay 3–2 Pittsburgh SO Holmqvist 17,132 20–21–2 42 Recap 44 January 9 Pittsburgh 2–3 Tampa Bay Holmqvist 19,226 21–21–2 44 Recap 45 January 11 Washington 4–5 Tampa Bay Holmqvist 18,804 22–21–2 46 Recap 46 January 13 Tampa Bay 3–2 Buffalo Denis 18,690 23–21–2 48 Recap 47 January 15 Tampa Bay 4–3 NY Islanders Holmqvist 15,426 24–21–2 50 Recap 48 January 16 Toronto 4–2 Tampa Bay Denis 19,830 24–22–2 50 Recap 49 January 18 Tampa Bay 3–2 New Jersey SO Holmqvist 12,698 25–22–2 52 Recap 50 January 20 Tampa Bay 6–5 Carolina SO Denis 18,196 26–22–2 54 Recap 51 January 26 New Jersey 2–0 Tampa Bay Holmqvist 21,404 26–23–2 54 Recap 52 January 30 Tampa Bay 4–3 Philadelphia SO Holmqvist 19,313 27–23–2 56 Recap
February: 9–2–2 (home: 6–1–1; road: 3–1–1) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Points Recap 53 February 1 Tampa Bay 4–0 Carolina Holmqvist 16,635 28–23–2 58 Recap 54 February 3 NY Rangers 2–3 Tampa Bay Holmqvist 21,354 29–23–2 60 Recap 55 February 6 Los Angeles 2–3 Tampa Bay SO Holmqvist 18,273 30–23–2 62 Recap 56 February 9 Tampa Bay 0–5 NY Rangers Holmqvist 18,200 30–24–2 62 Recap 57 February 11 Tampa Bay 4–1 New Jersey Holmqvist 18,022 31–24–2 64 Recap 58 February 13 Phoenix 3–5 Tampa Bay Holmqvist 18,019 32–24–2 66 Recap 59 February 15 Washington 2–3 Tampa Bay SO Denis 18,744 33–24–2 68 Recap 60 February 17 Tampa Bay 4–5 Florida OT Holmqvist 17,813 33–24–3 69 Recap 61 February 20 Florida 2–3 Tampa Bay SO Denis 19,319 34–24–3 71 Recap 62 February 22 Tampa Bay 5–4 Atlanta OT Denis 16,032 35–24–3 73 Recap 63 February 23 Boston 6–2 Tampa Bay Holmqvist 21,201 35–25–3 73 Recap 64 February 25 Pittsburgh 1–5 Tampa Bay Holmqvist 21,119 36–25–3 75 Recap 65 February 27 Dallas 2–1 Tampa Bay OT Holmqvist 19,255 36–25–4 76 Recap
March: 7–7–0 (home: 3–3–0; road: 4–4–0) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Points Recap 66 March 1 Tampa Bay 5–4 Washington SO Holmqvist 10,462 37–25–4 78 Recap 67 March 3 Tampa Bay 2–6 Florida Denis 17,299 37–26–4 78 Recap 68 March 6 Tampa Bay 1–5 Vancouver Holmqvist 18,630 37–27–4 78 Recap 69 March 7 Tampa Bay 3–1 Edmonton Denis 16,839 38–27–4 80 Recap 70 March 10 Tampa Bay 3–2 Calgary OT Denis 19,289 39–27–4 82 Recap 71 March 13 Tampa Bay 2–3 Toronto Denis 19,530 39–28–4 82 Recap 72 March 16 Buffalo 3–2 Tampa Bay Denis 21,264 39–29–4 82 Recap 73 March 18 Tampa Bay 1–7 Washington Holmqvist 14,274 39–30–4 82 Recap 74 March 20 NY Islanders 3–4 Tampa Bay OT Holmqvist 19,916 40–30–4 84 Recap 75 March 22 New Jersey 1–3 Tampa Bay Denis 20,326 41–30–4 86 Recap 76 March 24 Ottawa 7–2 Tampa Bay Denis 20,342 41–31–4 86 Recap 77 March 27 Florida 5–2 Tampa Bay Denis 18,856 41–32–4 86 Recap 78 March 30 Tampa Bay 4–2 Carolina Holmqvist 18,639 42–32–4 88 Recap 79 March 31 Washington 2–5 Tampa Bay Holmqvist 20,064 43–32–4 90 Recap
April: 1–1–1 (home: 0–1–0; road: 1–0–1) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Points Recap 80 April 3 Carolina 2–5 Tampa Bay Holmqvist 20,224 44–32–4 92 Recap 81 April 6 Florida 7–2 Tampa Bay Holmqvist 21,002 44–33–4 92 Recap 82 April 7 Tampa Bay 2–3 Atlanta SO Holmqvist 18,756 44–33–5 93 Recap
Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)

Playoffs

2007 Stanley Cup playoffs
Eastern Conference Quarterfinals vs. (2) New Jersey Devils – Devils win 4–2 Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Series Recap 1 April 12 Tampa Bay 3–5 New Jersey Holmqvist 14,495 0–1 Recap 2 April 14 Tampa Bay 3–2 New Jersey Holmqvist 18,231 1–1 Recap 3 April 16 New Jersey 2–3 Tampa Bay Holmqvist 20,219 2–1 Recap 4 April 18 New Jersey 4–3 Tampa Bay OT Holmqvist 20,940 2–2 Recap 5 April 20 Tampa Bay 0–3 New Jersey Holmqvist 18,096 2–3 Recap 6 April 22 New Jersey 3–2 Tampa Bay Holmqvist 20,019 2–4 Recap
Legend:   Win   Loss

Player stats

Regular season
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG Vincent Lecavalier C 82 52 56 108 44 2 16 5 7 Martin St. Louis RW 82 43 59 102 28 7 14 5 7 Brad Richards C 82 25 45 70 23 −19 12 1 3 Dan Boyle D 82 20 43 63 62 −5 10 1 4 Vaclav Prospal C 82 14 41 55 36 −24 2 0 1 Filip Kuba D 81 15 22 37 36 −9 5 1 2 Eric Perrin C 82 13 23 36 30 −7 2 1 0 Ruslan Fedotenko LW 80 12 20 32 52 −3 2 0 1 Paul Ranger D 72 4 24 28 42 5 0 0 2 Ryan Craig C 72 14 13 27 55 −11 4 0 2 Nikita Alexeev RW 63 10 11 21 12 10 2 0 2 Cory Sarich D 82 0 15 15 70 −6 0 0 0 Doug Janik D 75 2 9 11 53 −11 0 0 0 Nick Tarnasky C 77 5 4 9 80 −6 0 0 1 Andreas Karlsson C 53 3 6 9 12 −4 0 0 1 Jason Ward RW 17 4 4 8 10 −11 0 0 0 Nolan Pratt D 81 1 7 8 44 0 0 0 0 Dmitry Afanasenkov LW 33 3 3 6 8 −6 0 0 0 Tim Taylor C 71 1 5 6 16 −5 0 0 1 Blair Jones C 20 1 2 3 2 0 0 0 0 Andre Roy RW 51 1 2 3 116 −3 0 0 0 Johan Holmqvist G 48 0 3 3 4 0 0 0 0 Luke Richardson D 27 0 3 3 16 3 0 0 0 Shane O'Brien D 18 0 2 2 36 −8 0 0 0 Marc Denis G 44 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 Karri Ramo G 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Karl Stewart LW 7 0 0 0 2 −2 0 0 0 Kyle Wanvig RW 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T/OT GA GAA SO SA SV SV% Johan Holmqvist 2548 48 27 15 3 121 2.85 1 1134 1013 .893 Marc Denis 2353 44 17 18 2 125 3.19 1 1068 943 .883 Karri Ramo 70 2 0 0 0 4 3.43 0 23 19 .826 Team: 4971 82 44 33 5 250 3.02 2 2225 1975 .888

Playoffs
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG Brad Richards C 6 3 5 8 6 −4 2 0 0 Martin St. Louis RW 6 3 5 8 8 6 1 0 0 Vincent Lecavalier C 6 5 2 7 10 4 1 0 1 Filip Kuba D 6 1 4 5 4 −1 0 1 0 Vaclav Prospal C 6 1 4 5 4 2 0 0 1 Eric Perrin C 6 1 1 2 2 −4 0 0 0 Dan Boyle D 6 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 Paul Ranger D 6 0 1 1 4 3 0 0 0 Jason Ward RW 6 0 1 1 6 −6 0 0 0 Ryan Craig C 6 0 0 0 12 −1 0 0 0 Ruslan Fedotenko LW 4 0 0 0 4 −4 0 0 0 Johan Holmqvist G 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Doug Janik D 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Andreas Karlsson C 6 0 0 0 0 −1 0 0 0 Shane O'Brien D 6 0 0 0 12 −4 0 0 0 Nolan Pratt D 6 0 0 0 5 −2 0 0 0 Andre Roy RW 6 0 0 0 17 0 0 0 0 Cory Sarich D 6 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 Nick Tarnasky C 6 0 0 0 10 −1 0 0 0 Tim Taylor C 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO SA SV SV% Johan Holmqvist 370 6 2 4 18 2.92 0 168 150 .893 Team: 370 6 2 4 18 2.92 0 168 150 .893

Note:

Pos = Position; GPI = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals

Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

Awards and records

Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy winner

• Vincent Lecavalier 52 goals

Milestones

Vincent Lecavalier reached 50 goals in a single season and becomes the highest, single-season goal scorer in Lightning history, surpassing Brian Bradley's previous record of 42 goals in a single season.

Transactions

The Lightning were involved in the following transactions during the 2006–07 season.

Trades

June 30, 2006	To Tampa Bay Lightning Marc Denis	To Columbus Blue Jackets Fredrik Modin Fredrik Norrena
July 2, 2006	To Tampa Bay Lightning 4th round pick in 2008	To Dallas Stars Darryl Sydor
November 9, 2006	To Tampa Bay Lightning Daniel Corso	To Philadelphia Flyers Darren Reid
February 1, 2007	To Tampa Bay Lightning Kyle Wanvig Stephen Baby	To Atlanta Thrashers Andy Delmore Andre Deveaux
February 24, 2007	To Tampa Bay Lightning Shane O'Brien 3rd round pick in 2007	To Anaheim Ducks Gerald Coleman 1st round picks in 2007
February 27, 2007	To Tampa Bay Lightning Karl Stewart 6th round pick in 2007	To Chicago Blackhawks Nikita Alexeev

Free agents

Player Former team Andy Delmore Columbus Blue Jackets Filip Kuba Minnesota Wild Doug Janik Buffalo Sabres Luke Richardson Toronto Maple Leafs Eric Healey Boston Bruins

Player New team Pavel Kubina Toronto Maple Leafs

Waivers

Player Former team Andre Roy Pittsburgh Penguins

Player New team Dmitry Afanasenkov Philadelphia Flyers Sean Burke Los Angeles Kings

Draft picks

Tampa's picks at the 2006 NHL Entry Draft in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lightning picked 15th overall. Through a series of trades, Tampa had only four picks at this draft.

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/junior/club team (league)
1	15	Riku Helenius (G)	Finland	Ilves (SM-liiga)
3	78	Kevin Quick (D)	United States	Salisbury (USHS-CN)
6	168	Dane Crowley (D)	Canada	Swift Current Broncos (WHL)
7	198	Denis Kazionov (LW)	Russia	HC MVD Tver (Russian Superleague)

Farm teams

Springfield Falcons

The Falcons are the Lightning's top affiliate in the American Hockey League for the third year.

Johnstown Chiefs

The Chiefs are Tampa Bay's ECHL affiliate for the 2006–07 season.

See also

• 2006–07 NHL season