<P> The Lightning's dramatic improvement continued through the 2003--04 regular season, finishing with a record of 46--22--8--6 for 106 points, second - best in the league after the Western Conference's Detroit Red Wings--the first 100 - point season in franchise history . The Lightning went through the season with only 20 - man - games lost to injury . In the first round of the playoffs, the Lightning ousted the Alexei Yashin - led New York Islanders in five games, with solid play from goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin, who posted three shutouts in games 1, 3, and 4 . </P> <P> In the second round, the Lightning faced the Montreal Canadiens, captained by Saku Koivu; Lecavalier, Richards, and Khabibulin led the team to a four - game sweep of Montreal . They next faced Keith Primeau and his Philadelphia Flyers in the Conference Finals . After a tightly - fought seven - game series in which neither team was able to win consecutive games, Fredrik Modin notched the winning goal of the seventh and deciding game, earning the Eastern Conference championship for the Lightning and their first - ever berth in the Stanley Cup Finals . </P> <P> Their opponent in the final round was the Calgary Flames, captained by Jarome Iginla . The final round also went the full seven games, with the deciding game played in the St. Pete Times Forum on June 7, 2004 . This time, Ruslan Fedotenko was the Game 7 hero, scoring both Lightning goals in a 2--1 victory . Brad Richards, who had 26 points in the postseason, won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of the playoffs; the Lightning had won all 31 contests in which he had scored a goal since the opening of the season . Tortorella won the Jack Adams Award as the NHL's Coach of the Year . Only three years after their last of four consecutive seasons of 50 or more losses, and in only their 12th year of existence, the Lightning became the southernmost team ever to win the Stanley Cup . Martin St. Louis led the team and the NHL with 94 points (his 38 goals were fourth-most after the 41 of tied trio Jarome Iginla, Rick Nash and Ilya Kovalchuk), and won the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league's most valuable player . St. Louis also won the Lester B. Pearson Award for the league's most outstanding player as voted by the NHL Players' Association, and tied the Vancouver Canucks' Marek Malik for the NHL Plus / Minus Award . A season of superlatives was capped with one final accolade, as The Sporting News named GM Jay Feaster as the league's executive of the year for 2003--04 . </P> <P> The Lightning had to wait a year to defend their title due to the 2004--05 NHL lockout, but in 2005--06, they barely made the playoffs with a record of 43--33--6 for 93 points in a conference where six teams notched 100 or more points . They lost to the Ottawa Senators in five games in the first round of the 2006 playoffs . </P>

What year did the lightning win the stanley cup