# 2009–10 Tampa Bay Lightning season

The 2009–10 Tampa Bay Lightning season was the 18th season for the National Hockey League (NHL) team. Unlike the previous off-season, the Lightning did not make many roster changes. Second-year winger Steve Stamkos emerged from obscurity in which would turn out to be a breakout season that saw him score 10 goals in his first 11 games. Through the months of January and February, Stamkos had an 18-game point streak and he was ranked in the top five in the NHL in scoring by the time he turned 20, challenging the likes of established NHL superstars such as Alexander Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby. On April 10, 2010, Stamkos reached the 50-goal mark for the first time in his career when he scored two goals against the Florida Panthers. He ended the season with 51 goals, tied for most in the NHL with Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins, with the two sharing the Rocket Richard Trophy as the NHL's goal-scoring leaders. He tied Crosby in the final minute of the last game of the season with an empty-net goal while also becoming the third-youngest player in NHL history to score 50 goals in a season, after Wayne Gretzky and Jimmy Carson. Despite Stamkos's individual successes, the team's poor seasonal record prompted team owner Jeffrey Vinik to terminate Brian Lawton and Rick Tocchet's contracts as general manager and head coach, respectively.
The Lightning improved on their regular season record but failed to qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs for the third season in a row. The team was sold during the season to Boston-based investor Jeff Vinik. After the season, Vinik fired the Lightning's management team.

## Off-season

On May 11, the Lightning gave Rick Tocchet a multi-year contract to make him their full-time head coach, removing the interim tag he held after taking over the position from Barry Melrose, who was fired during the previous season after 16 games.
On June 23, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman met with Lightning co-owners Oren Koules and Len Barrie due to philosophical and financial differences over how to build the team. More details were not available to the public because Bettman imposed a "gag-order" over the meetings. By February, the team was sold and both Koules and Barrie were no longer involved. It was also in this time period that Bettman reportedly vetoed a trade between the Lightning and the Montreal Canadiens that would have sent center Vincent Lecavalier to the Canadiens in exchange for goaltender Carey Price, center Tomas Plekanec and an unnamed prospect.
With the second overall pick in the Entry Draft, the Lightning selected defenseman Victor Hedman from Modo Hockey of the Elitserien. Hedman was considered the top European prospect available. Having acquired a second first-round pick from the Detroit Red Wings, the Lightning used the 29th overall selection on Carter Ashton from the Lethbridge Hurricanes of the Western Hockey League (WHL).
Among several of the free agent signings the Lightning made included defenseman Mattias Ohlund, goaltender Antero Niittymaki and veteran left winger Alex Tanguay.

## Preseason

2009 Pre-season Game Log: 3–1–3 (Home: 0–0–0; Road: 1–0–2; Neutral: 2–1–1)
#DateVisitorScoreHomeOTAttendanceRecordRecap
1September 16Tampa Bay Lightning4 – 3Dallas StarsSO15,2140–0–1
2September 18Atlanta Thrashers2 – 1Tampa Bay LightningOT16,2230–0–2
3September 21 (in Regina, SK)Ottawa Senators3 – 1Tampa Bay Lightning0–1–2
4September 22 (in Everett, Washington)Phoenix Coyotes2 – 1Tampa Bay Lightning1–1–2
5September 23 (in Loveland, Colorado)Tampa Bay Lightning4 – 3Phoenix CoyotesSO1–1–3
6September 24 (in Winnipeg, MB)Edmonton Oilers4 – 3Tampa Bay LightningOT2–1–3
7September 27Tampa Bay Lightning5 – 1Atlanta Thrashers7,1793–1–3 :

## Regular season

The Lightning ended the regular season having scored the fewest shorthanded goals in the League, with just 2.
After the regular season finished with Tampa Bay missing the playoffs, the Lightning fired both General Manager Brian Lawton and Head Coach Rick Tocchet on April 12, 2010.

### Divisional standings

Southeast Division :
| | | GP | W | L | OTL | GF | GA | Pts |
| 1 | p – Washington Capitals | 82 | 54 | 15 | 13 | 318 | 233 | 121 |
| 2 | Atlanta Thrashers | 82 | 35 | 34 | 13 | 234 | 256 | 83 |
| 3 | Carolina Hurricanes | 82 | 35 | 37 | 10 | 230 | 256 | 80 |
| 4 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 82 | 34 | 36 | 12 | 217 | 260 | 80 |
| 5 | Florida Panthers | 82 | 32 | 37 | 13 | 208 | 244 | 77 |

### Conference standings

Eastern Conference :
| R | | Div | GP | W | L | OTL | GF | GA | Pts |
| 1 | p – Washington Capitals | SE | 82 | 54 | 15 | 13 | 318 | 233 | 121 |
| 2 | y – New Jersey Devils | AT | 82 | 48 | 27 | 7 | 222 | 191 | 103 |
| 3 | y – Buffalo Sabres | NE | 82 | 45 | 27 | 10 | 235 | 207 | 100 |
| 4 | Pittsburgh Penguins | AT | 82 | 47 | 28 | 7 | 257 | 237 | 101 |
| 5 | Ottawa Senators | NE | 82 | 44 | 32 | 6 | 225 | 238 | 94 |
| 6 | Boston Bruins | NE | 82 | 39 | 30 | 13 | 206 | 200 | 91 |
| 7 | Philadelphia Flyers | AT | 82 | 41 | 35 | 6 | 236 | 225 | 88 |
| 8 | Montreal Canadiens | NE | 82 | 39 | 33 | 10 | 217 | 223 | 88 |
| 8.5 ||||||||||
| 9 | New York Rangers | AT | 82 | 38 | 33 | 11 | 222 | 218 | 87 |
| 10 | Atlanta Thrashers | SE | 82 | 35 | 34 | 13 | 234 | 256 | 83 |
| 11 | Carolina Hurricanes | SE | 82 | 35 | 37 | 10 | 230 | 256 | 80 |
| 12 | Tampa Bay Lightning | SE | 82 | 34 | 36 | 12 | 217 | 260 | 80 |
| 13 | New York Islanders | AT | 82 | 34 | 37 | 11 | 222 | 264 | 79 |
| 14 | Florida Panthers | SE | 82 | 32 | 37 | 13 | 208 | 244 | 77 |
| 15 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NE | 82 | 30 | 38 | 14 | 214 | 267 | 74 |
bold – Qualified for playoffs; y – Won division; p – Won Presidents' Trophy (and division)
AT – Atlantic Division, NE – Northeast Division, SE – Southeast Division

### Game log

2009–10 Game Log :
October: 4–3–4 (Home: 4–0–3; Road 0–3–1)
GameDateOpponentScoreLocationAttendanceRecordPoints
1October 3Atlanta Thrashers6 – 3Philips Arena18,5450–1–00
2October 6Carolina Hurricanes2 – 1 (SO)RBC Center16,1860–1–11
3October 8New Jersey Devils4 – 3 (SO)St. Pete Times Forum17,4540–1–22
4October 10Carolina Hurricanes5 – 2St. Pete Times Forum14,2121–1–24
5October 12Florida Panthers3 – 2St. Pete Times Forum14,1262–1–26
6October 15Ottawa Senators7 – 1Scotiabank Place17,7322–2–26
7October 17Pittsburgh Penguins4 – 1Mellon Arena17,1322–3–26
8October 22San Jose Sharks5 – 2St. Pete Times Forum13,3433–3–28
9October 24Buffalo Sabres3 – 2 (SO)St. Pete Times Forum15,8043–3–39
10October 29Ottawa Senators5 – 2St. Pete Times Forum13,2134–3–311
11October 31New Jersey Devils2 – 1 (SO)St. Pete Times Forum12,1544–3–412 :
November: 6–4–4 (Home: 2–2–1; Road 4–2–3)
GameDateOpponentScoreLocationAttendanceRecordPoints
12November 2Philadelphia Flyers6 – 2Wachovia Center18,6674–4–412
13November 3Toronto Maple Leafs2 – 1 (OT)Air Canada Centre19,3015–4–414
14November 5Ottawa Senators3 – 2 (OT)Scotiabank Place17,5115–4–515
15November 7Montreal Canadiens3 – 1Bell Centre21,2736–4–517
16November 12Minnesota Wild4 – 3 (SO)St. Pete Times Forum14,5307–4–519
17November 14Los Angeles Kings2 – 1 (SO)St. Pete Times Forum16,6127–4–620
18November 16Phoenix Coyotes4 – 1Jobing.com Arena9,5038–4–622
19November 19Anaheim Ducks4 – 3 (OT)Honda Center14,5558–4–723
20November 21Carolina Hurricanes3 – 1RBC Center13,2248–5–723
21November 22Atlanta Thrashers4 – 3 (OT)Philips Arena13,3429–5–725
22November 25Toronto Maple Leafs4 – 3St. Pete Times Forum15,3339–6–725
23November 27New York Rangers5 – 1St. Pete Times Forum17,60810–6–727
24November 28Dallas Stars4 – 3 (OT)American Airlines Center17,33410–6–828
25November 30Colorado Avalanche3 – 0St. Pete Times Forum12,21410–7–828 :
December: 5–8–2 (Home: 3–3–1; Road 2–5–1)
GameDateOpponentScoreLocationAttendanceRecordPoints
26December 2Boston Bruins4 – 1TD Garden16,53310–8–828
27December 4New Jersey Devils3 – 2Prudential Center15,33610–9–828
28December 5New York Islanders4 – 0St. Pete Times Forum13,57711–9–830
29December 7Washington Capitals3 – 0St. Pete Times Forum12,40011–10–830
30December 9Edmonton Oilers3 – 2St. Pete Times Forum13,47711–11–830
31December 11Colorado Avalanche2 – 1 (SO)Pepsi Center12,18811–11–931
32December 13Chicago Blackhawks4 – 0United Center21,08111–12–931
33December 15Nashville Predators7 – 4Sommet Center15,80411–13–931
34December 17Detroit Red Wings3 – 0Joe Louis Arena19,47411–14–931
35December 18St. Louis Blues6 – 3Scottrade Center19,15012–14–933
36December 21New York Islanders4 – 2Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum10,86413–14–935
37December 23Philadelphia Flyers5 – 2St. Pete Times Forum16,17713–15–935
38December 26Atlanta Thrashers4 – 3St. Pete Times Forum15,43714–15–937
39December 28Boston Bruins2 – 1St. Pete Times Forum16,92615–15–939
40December 30Montreal Canadiens2 – 1 (OT)St. Pete Times Forum18,44115–15–1040 :
January: 7–6–1 (Home: 5–1–1; Road 2–5–0)
GameDateOpponentScoreLocationAttendanceRecordPoints
41January 2Pittsburgh Penguins3 – 1St. Pete Times Forum20,10916–15–1042
42January 6Buffalo Sabres5 – 3HSBC Arena18,69016–16–1042
44January 8*New Jersey Devils4 – 2Prudential Center15,12917–16–1044
43January 9Philadelphia Flyers4 – 1Wachovia Center19,67816–17–1044
45January 12Washington Capitals7 – 4St. Pete Times Forum13,89118–17–1046
46January 14Florida Panthers3 – 2St. Pete Times Forum13,51618–18–1046
47January 16Florida Panthers5 – 2BankAtlantic Center15,97118–19–1046
48January 18Carolina Hurricanes3 – 2RBC Center16,03119–19–1048
49January 19New York Rangers8 – 2Madison Square Garden18,20019–20–1048
50January 21Toronto Maple Leafs3 – 2 (OT)St. Pete Times Forum13,69120–20–1050
51January 23Atlanta Thrashers2 – 1 (SO)St. Pete Times Forum16,21221–20–1052
52January 27Montreal Canadiens3 – 0St. Pete Times Forum14,40422–20–1054
53January 29Anaheim Ducks2 – 1 (SO)St. Pete Times Forum15,23022–20–1155
54January 31Washington Capitals3 – 2Verizon Center18,27722–21–1155
*Originally scheduled for January 8, but suspended during the 2nd period due to a lighting failure. Play resumed on January 10 from the moment it was stopped. :
February: 4–3–0 (Home: 3–1–0; Road 1–2–0)
GameDateOpponentScoreLocationAttendanceRecordPoints
55February 2Atlanta Thrashers2 – 1Philips Arena11,39023–21–1157
56February 4New York Islanders5 – 2St. Pete Times Forum13,89124–21–1159
57February 6Calgary Flames2 – 1 (OT)St. Pete Times Forum15,85925–21–1161
58February 9Vancouver Canucks3 – 1St. Pete Times Forum14,22626–21–1163
59February 11Boston Bruins5 – 4St. Pete Times Forum15,82626–22–1163
60February 13New York Islanders5 – 4Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum12,33726–23–1163
61February 14New York Rangers5 – 2Madison Square Garden18,20026–24–1163
League-wide break for 2010 Winter Olympics (February 15–28) :
March: 5–10–1 (Home: 2–5–0; Road 3–5–1)
GameDateOpponentScoreLocationAttendanceRecordPoints
62March 2Philadelphia Flyers7 – 2St. Pete Times Forum17,81226–25–1163
63March 4Washington Capitals5 – 4Verizon Center18,27726–26–1163
64March 6Atlanta Thrashers6 – 2St. Pete Times Forum19,92627–26–1165
65March 9Montreal Canadiens5 – 3Bell Centre21,27327–27–1165
66March 11Toronto Maple Leafs4 – 3 (OT)Air Canada Centre19,11027–27–1266
67March 12Washington Capitals3 – 2Verizon Center18,27728–27–1268
68March 14Pittsburgh Penguins2 – 1St. Pete Times Forum20,23028–28–1268
69March 16Phoenix Coyotes2 – 1St. Pete Times Forum14,51728–29–1268
70March 18Buffalo Sabres6 – 2St. Pete Times Forum16,86828–30–1268
71March 20Washington Capitals3 – 1St. Pete Times Forum19,84428–31–1268
72March 21Florida Panthers5 – 2BankAtlantic Center14,83128–32–1268
73March 23Carolina Hurricanes3 – 2 (OT)St. Pete Times Forum13,00929–32–1270
74March 25Boston Bruins5 – 3TD Garden17,56530–32–1272
75March 27Buffalo Sabres7 – 1HSBC Arena18,69030–33–1272
76March 30Columbus Blue Jackets3 – 2Nationwide Arena15,76030–34–1272
77March 31Pittsburgh Penguins2 – 0Mellon Arena17,13231–34–1274 :
April: 3–2–0 (Home: 2–2–0; Road 1–0–0)
GameDateOpponentScoreLocationAttendanceRecordPoints
78April 2New York Rangers5 – 0St. Pete Times Forum17,90931–35–1274
79April 6Carolina Hurricanes8 – 5St. Pete Times Forum12,45431–36–1274
80April 8Ottawa Senators4 – 3 (SO)St. Pete Times Forum15,87632–36–1276
81April 10Florida Panthers4 – 3 (SO)St. Pete Times Forum17,05033–36–1278
82April 11Florida Panthers3 – 1BankAtlantic Center15,88434–36–1280 :
Schedule
  Win
  Loss
  Overtime/Shootout Loss :

## Playoffs

For the third consecutive year, the Lightning failed to qualify for the playoffs.

## Player stats
### Skaters

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/− = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| Steven Stamkos | 82 | 51 | 44 | 95 | -2 | 38 |
| Martin St. Louis | 82 | 29 | 65 | 94 | -8 | 12 |
| Vincent Lecavalier | 82 | 24 | 46 | 70 | -16 | 63 |
| Ryan Malone | 69 | 21 | 26 | 47 | -8 | 68 |
| Steve Downie | 79 | 22 | 24 | 46 | 14 | 208 |
| Kurtis Foster | 71 | 8 | 34 | 42 | -5 | 48 |
| Alex Tanguay | 80 | 10 | 27 | 37 | -2 | 32 |
| Victor Hedman | 74 | 4 | 16 | 20 | -3 | 79 |
| Andrej Meszaros | 81 | 6 | 11 | 17 | -14 | 50 |
| Jeff Halpern$^‡$ | 55 | 9 | 8 | 17 | -13 | 27 |
| Mattias Ohlund | 67 | 0 | 13 | 13 | -8 | 59 |
| Brandon Bochenski | 28 | 4 | 9 | 13 | -1 | 2 |
| Mike Lundin | 49 | 3 | 10 | 13 | -4 | 18 |
| Stephane Veilleux | 77 | 3 | 6 | 9 | -14 | 48 |
| Teddy Purcell$^†$ | 19 | 3 | 6 | 9 | -8 | 6 |
| Paul Szczechura | 52 | 5 | 2 | 7 | -15 | 18 |
| Todd Fedoruk | 50 | 3 | 3 | 6 | -12 | 54 |
| James Wright | 48 | 2 | 3 | 5 | -9 | 18 |
| Matt Walker | 66 | 2 | 3 | 5 | -11 | 90 |
| Zenon Konopka | 74 | 2 | 3 | 5 | -11 | 265 |
| David Hale | 39 | 0 | 4 | 4 | -2 | 25 |
| Nate Thompson$^†$ | 32 | 1 | 3 | 4 | -3 | 17 |
| Mark Parrish | 16 | 0 | 2 | 2 | -5 | 4 |
| Paul Ranger | 8 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -2 | 6 |
| Matt Smaby | 33 | 0 | 2 | 2 | -4 | 27 |
| Lukas Krajicek$^‡$ | 23 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -4 | 21 |
| Ryan Craig | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Vladimir Mihalik | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -4 | 2 |
| Blair Jones | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -5 | 10 |
| Matt Lashoff | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 21 |
| Scott Jackson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Drew Miller$^‡$ | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -3 | 2 |

### Goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime losses; GA = Goals against; GAA= Goals against average; SA= Shots against; SV= Saves; Sv% = Save percentage; SO= Shutouts
| Player | GP | Min | W | L | OT | GA | GAA | SA | Sv% | SO | G | A | PIM |
| Antero Niittymaki | 49 | 2657 | 21 | 18 | 5 | 127 | 2.87 | 1388 | .909 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Mike Smith | 42 | 2273 | 13 | 18 | 7 | 117 | 3.09 | 1165 | .900 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| Dustin Tokarski | 2 | 44 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4.09 | 16 | .813 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
$^†$Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Lightning. Stats reflect time with Lightning only. $^‡$Traded mid-season Bold/italics denotes franchise record

## Awards and records
### Awards

Regular Season :
| Player | Award | Awarded |
| Mike Smith | NHL Second Star of the Week | January 4, 2010 |
| Steven Stamkos | NHL First Star of the Week | February 15, 2010 |
| Steven Stamkos | NHL Second Star of the Week | March 8, 2010 |
| Steven Stamkos | Maurice Richard Trophy (Shared with Sidney Crosby) | April 11, 2010 |
| Martin St. Louis | Lady Byng Trophy winner | June 23, 2010 |

### Milestones

Regular Season :
| Player | Milestone | Reached |
| Victor Hedman | 1st Career NHL Game 1st Career NHL Assist 1st Career NHL Point | October 3, 2009 |
| James Wright | 1st Career NHL Game | October 3, 2009 |
| James Wright | 1st Career NHL Goal 1st Career NHL Point | October 22, 2009 |
| James Wright | 1st Career NHL Assist | October 24, 2009 |

## Transactions

The Lightning have been involved in the following transactions during the 2009–10 season.

### Trades

| Date | Details | Details |
| June 26, 2009 | To Detroit Red Wings 2nd-round pick (32nd overall) in 2009 3rd-round pick (75th overall) in 2009 | To Tampa Bay Lightning 1st-round pick (29th overall) in 2009 |
| July 21, 2009 | To Phoenix Coyotes Radim Vrbata | To Tampa Bay Lightning Todd Fedoruk David Hale |
| August 13, 2009 | To Anaheim Ducks Evgeny Artyukhin | To Tampa Bay Lightning Drew Miller 3rd-round pick in 2010 |
| March 3, 2010 | To Los Angeles Kings Jeff Halpern | To Tampa Bay Lightning Teddy Purcell 3rd-round pick in 2010 |
Player signings
PlayerContract terms
Mitch Fadden3 years
Lukas Krajicek1 year, $1.475 million
Victor Hedman3 years
Blair Jonesundisclosed
Lauri Tukonenundisclosed
Matt Smaby2 years, $1.05 million
Martins Karsums1 year
Matt Lashoff2 years
Mike Lundin1 year
Radek Smolenak1 year
James Wright3-year entry-level contract
Carter Ashton3-year entry-level contract
Jaroslav Janus3-year entry-level contract
Johan Harju1 year :

## Draft picks

Tampa Bay's picks at the 2009 NHL Entry Draft in Montreal.
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | Club Team |
| 1 | 2 | Victor Hedman | (D) | Sweden | Modo Hockey (Elitserien) |
| 1 | 29 (from Detroit) | Carter Ashton | (RW) | Canada | Lethbridge Hurricanes (WHL) |
| 2 | 52 (from Philadelphia) | Richard Panik | (RW) | Slovakia | Ocelari Trinec (Czech Extraliga) |
| 4 | 93 | Alex Hutchings | (LW) | Canada | Barrie Colts (OHL) |
| 5 | 148 (from Carolina via Nashville) | Michael Zador | (G) | Canada | Oshawa Generals (OHL) |
| 6 | 162 (from Nashville) | Jaroslav Janus | (G) | Slovakia | Erie Otters (OHL) |
| 7 | 183 | Kirill Gotovets | (D) | Belarus | Shattuck-Saint Mary's (USHS-MN) |