# 2012–13 Tampa Bay Lightning season

The 2012–13 Tampa Bay Lightning season was the franchise's 21st season in the National Hockey League (NHL). The regular season was reduced from its usual 82 games to 48 due to the 2012–13 NHL lockout.

## Regular season

The Lightning began the season with one of the best starts in franchise history, earning a 6–1–0 record. However, after that seventh game, the team went 7–16–1, falling to 14th out of 15 teams in the Eastern Conference. This prompted general manager Steve Yzerman to fire head coach Guy Boucher on March 24, 2013 after a 5-3 loss to the Ottawa Senators(who he would eventually end up coaching). Boucher was in his third year as the team's head coach.
One day later, the Lightning named Jon Cooper as the team's new head coach. Cooper was first hired by the organization in 2010 to coach the Lightning's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Norfolk Admirals, and after the Lightning changed affiliates, the Syracuse Crunch. While coaching the Admirals in the 2011–12 season, the team won 28 consecutive games and would go on to win the Calder Cup, sweeping the championship series. At the time of Cooper's naming as Lightning head coach, ten players on the team's roster had played for Cooper in Syracuse at some point during the season.
With goaltending having been an issue for the team all season, on April 3, the day of the trade deadline, the Lightning acquired Ben Bishop from the Ottawa Senators. In return, the Lightning dealt rookie left wing Cory Conacher, who at the time was second in the League in points among first-year players with 24, and led all rookies in assists with 15. The Lightning also gave up a fourth-round pick in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft.
The Lightning tied the Montreal Canadiens for the fewest shorthanded goals scored with zero.

## Standings
### Divisional standings

Southeast Division :
| Pos | Team v t e | GP | W | L | OTL | ROW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | y – Washington Capitals | 48 | 27 | 18 | 3 | 24 | 149 | 126 | +23 | 57 |
| 2 | Winnipeg Jets | 48 | 24 | 21 | 3 | 22 | 128 | 109 | +19 | 51 |
| 3 | Carolina Hurricanes | 48 | 19 | 25 | 4 | 18 | 128 | 133 | −5 | 42 |
| 4 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 48 | 18 | 26 | 4 | 17 | 148 | 104 | +44 | 40 |
| 5 | Florida Panthers | 48 | 15 | 27 | 6 | 12 | 112 | 143 | −31 | 36 |

### Conference standings

Eastern Conference :
| Pos | Div | Team v t e | GP | W | L | OTL | ROW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | AT | z – Pittsburgh Penguins | 48 | 36 | 12 | 0 | 33 | 165 | 119 | +46 | 72 |
| 2 | NE | y – Montreal Canadiens | 48 | 29 | 14 | 5 | 26 | 149 | 126 | +23 | 63 |
| 3 | SE | y – Washington Capitals | 48 | 27 | 18 | 3 | 24 | 149 | 130 | +19 | 57 |
| 4 | NE | x – Boston Bruins | 48 | 28 | 14 | 6 | 24 | 131 | 109 | +22 | 62 |
| 5 | NE | x – Toronto Maple Leafs | 48 | 26 | 17 | 5 | 26 | 145 | 133 | +12 | 57 |
| 6 | AT | x – New York Rangers | 48 | 26 | 18 | 4 | 22 | 130 | 112 | +18 | 56 |
| 7 | NE | x – Ottawa Senators | 48 | 25 | 17 | 6 | 21 | 116 | 104 | +12 | 56 |
| 8 | AT | x – New York Islanders | 48 | 24 | 17 | 7 | 20 | 139 | 139 | 0 | 55 |
| 9 | SE | Winnipeg Jets | 48 | 24 | 21 | 3 | 22 | 128 | 144 | −16 | 51 |
| 10 | AT | Philadelphia Flyers | 48 | 23 | 22 | 3 | 22 | 133 | 141 | −8 | 49 |
| 11 | AT | New Jersey Devils | 48 | 19 | 19 | 10 | 17 | 112 | 129 | −17 | 48 |
| 12 | NE | Buffalo Sabres | 48 | 21 | 21 | 6 | 14 | 115 | 143 | −28 | 48 |
| 13 | SE | Carolina Hurricanes | 48 | 19 | 25 | 4 | 18 | 128 | 160 | −32 | 42 |
| 14 | SE | Tampa Bay Lightning | 48 | 18 | 26 | 4 | 17 | 148 | 150 | −2 | 40 |
| 15 | SE | Florida Panthers | 48 | 15 | 27 | 6 | 12 | 112 | 171 | −59 | 36 |

## Schedule and results
### Preseason

As a result of the 2012–13 NHL lockout, the entire pre-season was canceled.

### Regular season

Due to the 2012–13 NHL lockout, the Lightning's original 82-game schedule was reduced to a 48-game schedule in which they would face only teams from the Eastern Conference.
2012–13 Game Log :
January: 5–1–0, 10 Points (home: 4–0–0; road: 1–1–0)
GameDateOpponentScoreOTDecisionLocationAttendanceRecordPointsRecap
1January 19Washington Capitals6–3LindbackTampa Bay Times Forum19,2041–0–02
2January 21@ New York Islanders3–4LindbackNassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum15,3221–1–02
3January 22@ Carolina Hurricanes4–1GaronPNC Arena18,6802–1–04
4January 25Ottawa Senators6–4LindbackTampa Bay Times Forum19,2043–1–06
5January 27Philadelphia Flyers5–1LindbackTampa Bay Times Forum19,2044–1–08
6January 29Florida Panthers5–2LindbackTampa Bay Times Forum19,2045–1–010 :
February: 4–9–1, 9 Points (home: 2–4–1; road: 2–5–0)
GameDateOpponentScoreOTDecisionLocationAttendanceRecordPointsRecap
7February 1Winnipeg Jets8–3LindbackTampa Bay Times Forum19,2046–1–012
8February 2New York Rangers2–3GaronTampa Bay Times Forum19,2046–2–012
9February 5@ Philadelphia Flyers1–2LindbackWells Fargo Center19,6166–3–012
10February 7@ New Jersey Devils2–4LindbackPrudential Center14,8026–4–012
–February 9@ Boston BruinsGame rescheduled to April 25 due to a blizzard in Boston.
11February 10@ New York Rangers1–5GaronMadison Square Garden17,2006–5–012
12February 12Montreal Canadiens3–4SOLindbackTampa Bay Times Forum19,2046–5–113
13February 14Washington Capitals3–4GaronTampa Bay Times Forum19,2046–6–113
14February 16@ Florida Panthers6–5OTLindbackBB&T Center17,0097–6–115
15February 19Toronto Maple Leafs4–2LindbackTampa Bay Times Forum19,2048–6–117
16February 21Boston Bruins2–4LindbackTampa Bay Times Forum19,2048–7–117
17February 23@ Carolina Hurricanes5–2GaronPNC Arena18,6809–7–119
18February 24@ Pittsburgh Penguins3–5GaronConsol Energy Center18,6329–8–119
19February 26Buffalo Sabres1–2GaronTampa Bay Times Forum19,2049–9–119
20February 28@ New York Rangers1–4GaronMadison Square Garden17,2009–10–119 :
March: 6–8–0, 12 Points (home: 4–3–0; road: 2–5–0)
GameDateOpponentScoreOTDecisionLocationAttendanceRecordPointsRecap
21March 2@ Boston Bruins2–3GaronTD Garden17,5659–11–119
22March 4@ Pittsburgh Penguins3–4LindbackConsol Energy Center18,6569–12–119
23March 5@ New Jersey Devils5–2LindbackPrudential Center15,22910–12–121
24March 7Winnipeg Jets1–2LindbackTampa Bay Times Forum19,20410–13–121
25March 9Montreal Canadiens3–4DesjardinsTampa Bay Times Forum19,20410–14–121
26March 12@ Florida Panthers3–2LindbackBB&T Center15,17411–14–123
27March 14New York Islanders0–2LindbackTampa Bay Times Forum19,20411–15–123
28March 16Carolina Hurricanes4–1GaronTampa Bay Times Forum19,20412–15–125
29March 18Philadelphia Flyers4–2LindbackTampa Bay Times Forum19,20413–15–127
30March 20@ Toronto Maple Leafs2–4GaronAir Canada Centre19,43313–16–127
31March 23@ Ottawa Senators3–5DesjardinsScotiabank Place20,01613–17–127
32March 24@ Winnipeg Jets2–3DesjardinsMTS Centre15,00413–18–127
33March 26Buffalo Sabres2–1GaronTampa Bay Times Forum19,20414–18–129
34March 29New Jersey Devils5–4SOGaronTampa Bay Times Forum19,20415–18–131 :
April: 2–8–3, 7 Points (home: 1–3–1; road: 1–5–2)
GameDateOpponentScoreOTDecisionLocationAttendanceRecordPointsRecap
35April 2Florida Panthers2–3SOGaronTampa Bay Times Forum17,90415–18–232
36April 4@ Carolina Hurricanes5–0BishopPNC Arena17,04216–18–234
37April 6@ New York Islanders2–4BishopNassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum16,17016–19–234
38April 7@ Washington Capitals2–4BishopVerizon Center18,50616–20–234
39April 9Ottawa Senators3–2BishopTampa Bay Times Forum17,32317–20–236
40April 11Pittsburgh Penguins3–6BishopTampa Bay Times Forum19,20417–21–236
41April 13@ Washington Capitals5–6OTGaronVerizon Center18,50617–21–337
42April 14@ Buffalo Sabres1–3GaronFirst Niagara Center18,99117–22–337
43April 16@ Winnipeg Jets3–4SOBishopMTS Centre15,00417–22–438
44April 18@ Montreal Canadiens2–3BishopBell Centre21,27317–23–438
45April 21Carolina Hurricanes2–3LindbackTampa Bay Times Forum19,20417–24–438
46April 24Toronto Maple Leafs5–2BishopTampa Bay Times Forum18,82618–24–440
47April 25@ Boston Bruins0–2LindbackTD Garden17,56518–25–440
48April 27Florida Panthers3–5LindbackTampa Bay Times Forum19,20418–26–440 :
2012–13 Regular Season Schedule :
Lightning score listed first;
  Win (2 Points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Overtime/shootout loss (1 point) :

### Playoffs

The Lightning were unable to qualify for the playoffs for the second year in a row.

## Player stats

Final stats
Regular Season :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM |
| Martin St. Louis | 48 | 17 | 43 | 60 | 0 | 14 |
| Steven Stamkos | 48 | 29 | 28 | 57 | −4 | 32 |
| Teddy Purcell | 48 | 11 | 25 | 36 | −1 | 12 |
| Vincent Lecavalier | 39 | 10 | 22 | 32 | −5 | 29 |
| Cory Conacher$^‡$ | 35 | 9 | 15 | 24 | −3 | 16 |
| Matt Carle | 48 | 5 | 17 | 22 | 1 | 4 |
| Benoit Pouliot | 34 | 8 | 12 | 20 | 8 | 15 |
| Victor Hedman | 44 | 4 | 16 | 20 | 1 | 31 |
| Alexander Killorn | 38 | 7 | 12 | 19 | −6 | 14 |
| Sami Salo | 46 | 2 | 15 | 17 | 5 | 16 |
| Tom Pyatt | 43 | 8 | 8 | 16 | 5 | 12 |
| Nate Thompson | 45 | 7 | 8 | 15 | −2 | 17 |
| Eric Brewer | 48 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 3 | 30 |
| Richard Panik | 25 | 5 | 4 | 9 | −2 | 4 |
| Ryan Malone | 24 | 6 | 2 | 8 | −3 | 22 |
| B. J. Crombeen | 44 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 4 | 112 |
| Keith Aulie | 45 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 1 | 60 |
| Tyler Johnson | 14 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 4 |
| Radko Gudas | 22 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 38 |
| Marc-Andre Bergeron$^‡$ | 12 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 |
| Dana Tyrell | 21 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −3 | 4 |
| Ondrej Palat | 14 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 0 |
| Adam Hall$^‡$ | 20 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 23 |
| Pierre-Cedric Labrie | 19 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 30 |
| Brendan Mikkelson | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| Brett Connolly | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −3 | 0 |
| Mathieu Roy | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 0 |
| J. T. Wyman | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 0 |
| Brian Lee | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −13 | 16 |
| Mike Angelidis | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mark Barberio | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −2 | 0 |
| Matt Taormina | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 0 |
| Andrej Sustr | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Totals | Totals | 101 | 186 | 287 | 15 | 370 |

### Goaltenders

Regular Season :
| Player | GP | GS | TOI | W | L | OT | GA | GAA | SA | SV% | SO | G | A | PIM |
| Anders Lindback | 24 | 21 | 1304:11 | 10 | 10 | 1 | 63 | 2.90 | 642 | .902 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Mathieu Garon | 18 | 16 | 910:04 | 5 | 9 | 2 | 44 | 2.90 | 427 | .897 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ben Bishop$^†$ | 9 | 9 | 502:26 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 25 | 2.99 | 302 | .917 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Cedrick Desjardins | 3 | 2 | 160:06 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 3.00 | 73 | .890 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | Totals | 48 | 2876:47 | 21 | 23 | 4 | 140 | 2.92 | 1444 | .903 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
$^†$Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Tampa Bay. Stats reflect time with Tampa Bay only. $^‡$Traded to Tampa Bay mid-season. Bold/italics denotes franchise record

## Awards and records
### Awards

Regular season :
| Player | Award | Awarded |
| Martin St. Louis | NHL Third Star of the Week | January 28, 2013 |
| Steven Stamkos | NHL Second Star of the Week | February 25, 2013 |
| Steven Stamkos | NHL First Star of the Month (February) | March 1, 2013 |
| Martin St. Louis | Art Ross Trophy | April 2013 |
| Martin St. Louis | Lady Byng Memorial Trophy | June 14, 2013 |

### Milestones

Regular season :
| Player | Milestone | Reached |
| Cory Conacher | 1st career NHL game 1st career NHL assist 1st career NHL goal 1st career NHL point | January 19, 2013 |
| Teddy Purcell | 100th career NHL assist | January 19, 2013 |
| Vincent Lecavalier | 1,000th career NHL game | January 21, 2013 |
| Alexander Killorn | 1st career NHL game 1st career NHL assist 1st career NHL point | February 10, 2013 |
| Richard Panik | 1st career NHL game | February 12, 2013 |
| B. J. Crombeen | 300th career NHL game | February 14, 2013 |
| Alexander Killorn | 1st career NHL goal | February 16, 2013 |
| Brian Lee | 200th career NHL game | February 19, 2013 |
| Richard Panik | 1st career NHL goal 1st career NHL point | February 23, 2013 |
| Ondrej Palat | 1st career NHL game 1st career NHL assist 1st career NHL point | March 4, 2013 |
| Tom Pyatt | 200th career NHL game | March 9, 2013 |
| Radko Gudas | 1st career NHL game | March 12, 2013 |
| Keith Aulie | 100th career NHL game | March 14, 2013 |
| Tyler Johnson | 1st career NHL game | March 14, 2013 |
| Teddy Purcell | 300th career NHL game | March 16, 2013 |
| Tyler Johnson | 1st career NHL goal 1st career NHL assist 1st career NHL point | March 16, 2013 |
| Ondrej Palat | 1st career NHL goal | March 16, 2013 |
| Matt Carle | 500th career NHL game | March 18, 2013 |
| Steven Stamkos | 200th career NHL goal | March 18, 2013 |
| Radko Gudas | 1st career NHL goal 1st career NHL point | March 20, 2013 |
| Richard Panik | 1st career NHL assist | March 23, 2013 |
| Andrej Sustr | 1st career NHL game | March 29, 2013 |
| Nate Thompson | 300th career NHL game | April 6, 2013 |
| Mark Barberio | 1st career NHL game | April 9, 2013 |
| Pierre-Cedric Labrie | 1st career NHL goal | April 9, 2013 |
| Martin St. Louis | 900th career NHL point | April 9, 2013 |
| Sami Salo | 800th career NHL game | April 13, 2013 |

## Transactions

The Lightning have been involved in the following transactions during the 2012–13 season.

### Trades

| Date | Details | Details |
| June 15, 2012 | To Nashville Predators Sebastien Caron 2nd-round pick in 2012 2nd-round pick in 2012 3rd-round pick in 2013 | To Tampa Bay Lightning Anders Lindback Kyle Wilson 7th-round pick in 2012 |
| June 23, 2012 | To Boston Bruins Michel Ouellet 5th-round pick in 2012 | To Tampa Bay Lightning Benoit Pouliot |
| July 10, 2012 | To St. Louis Blues 4th-round pick in 2013 4th-round pick in 2014 | To Tampa Bay Lightning B. J. Crombeen 5th-round pick in 2014 |
| January 21, 2013 | To Florida Panthers Future considerations | To Tampa Bay Lightning Jean-Francois Jacques |
| February 14, 2013 | To Montreal Canadiens Dustin Tokarski | To Tampa Bay Lightning Cedrick Desjardins |
| March 11, 2013 | To Anaheim Ducks Kyle Wilson | To Tampa Bay Lightning Dan Sexton |
| April 2, 2013 | To Carolina Hurricanes Marc-Andre Bergeron | To Tampa Bay Lightning Adam Hall 7th-round pick in 2013 |
| April 2, 2013 | To Chicago Blackhawks Kirill Gotovets | To Tampa Bay Lightning Philippe Paradis |
| April 3, 2013 | To Ottawa Senators Cory Conacher 4th-round pick in 2013 | To Tampa Bay Lightning Ben Bishop |
* ↑ Trade of negotiating rights to.

### Lost via retirement

* Player

### Player signings

| Player | Date | Contract terms |
| Riku Helenius | June 14, 2012 | 2 years, $1.2 million |
| Adam Hall | June 15, 2012 | 1 year, $650,000 |
| J. T. Wyman | June 15, 2012 | 1 year, $600,000 |
| Mike Angelidis | June 18, 2012 | 1 year, $525,000 |
| Brendan Mikkelson | June 27, 2012 | 1 year, $600,000 |
| Brian Lee | June 28, 2012 | 2 years, $2.3 million |
| Keith Aulie | June 30, 2012 | 1 year, $577,500 |
| Evan Oberg | July 1, 2012 | 1 year, $560,000 |
| Benoit Pouliot | July 1, 2012 | 1 year, $1.8 million |
| Anders Lindback | July 6, 2012 | 2 years, $3.6 million |
| Teddy Purcell | July 10, 2012 | 3 years, $13.5 million contract extension |
| Nikita Kucherov | September 10, 2012 | 3 years, $2.2275 million entry-level contract |
| Slater Koekkoek | March 20, 2013 | 3 years, $2.775 million entry-level contract |
| Nate Thompson | March 23, 2013 | 4 years, $6.4 million contract extension |
| Tanner Richard | April 1, 2013 | 3 years, $1.925 million entry-level contract |
| Luke Witkowski | April 1, 2013 | 2 years, $1.255 million entry-level contract |
| B. J. Crombeen | April 1, 2013 | 2 years, $2.3 million contract extension |
| Ben Bishop | April 15, 2013 | 2 years, $4.6 million contract extension |
| Nikita Nesterov | April 30, 2013 | 3 years, $2.2275 million entry-level contract |
| Cedric Paquette | May 3, 2013 | 3 years, $1.9 million entry-level contract |
| Radko Gudas | May 6, 2013 | 3 years, $2.975 million contract extension |
| Keith Aulie | June 26, 2013 | 1 year, $975,000 |
| Mike Angelidis | June 27, 2013 | 1 year, $550,000 |

## Draft picks

Tampa Bay Lightning's picks at the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on June 22 & 23, 2012.
| Round | # | Player | Pos | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team (League) |
| 1 | 10 | Slater Koekkoek | D | Canada | Peterborough Petes (OHL) |
| 1 | 19 | Andrei Vasilevskiy | G | Russia | Tolpar Ufa (MHL) |
| 2 | 40 | Dylan Blujus | D | United States | Brampton Battalion (OHL) |
| 2 | 53 | Brian Hart | RW | United States | Phillips Exeter Academy (USHS-NH) |
| 3 | 71 | Tanner Richard | C | Canada | Guelph Storm (OHL) |
| 4 | 101 | Cedric Paquette | C | Canada | Blainville-Boisbriand Armada (QMJHL) |
| 6 | 161 | Jake Dotchin | D | Canada | Owen Sound Attack (OHL) |
| 7 | 202 | Nikita Gusev | LW | Russia | CSKA Moscow Jr. (MHL) |

### Draft Notes

* $^a$ The Detroit Red Wings' first-round pick went to the Tampa Bay Lightning as a result of a February 21, 2012, trade that sent Kyle Quincey to the Red Wings in exchange for Sebastien Piche and this pick.
* $^b$ The Philadelphia Flyers' second-round pick (originally from the Florida Panthers) went to the Tampa Bay Lightning as a result of a February 18, 2012, trade that sent Pavel Kubina to the Flyers in exchange for Jon Kalinski, 2013 fourth-round pick and this pick.
* The Tampa Bay Lightning's fifth-round pick went to the Boston Bruins as the result of a June 23, 2012, trade that sent Benoit Pouliot to the Lightning in exchange for Michel Ouellet and this pick.
* The Tampa Bay Lightning's seventh-round pick went to the San Jose Sharks as the result of a February 16, 2012, trade that sent a 2012 second-round pick to the Lightning in exchange for Dominic Moore and this pick.
* $^c$ The Nashville Predators' seventh-round pick went to the Tampa Bay Lightning as a result of a June 15, 2012, trade that sent Sebastien Caron, two 2012 second-round picks and a 2013 third-round pick to the Predators in exchange for Anders Lindback, Kyle Wilson and this pick.