TAMPA, Fla. _ An early January blizzard sent the NHL regular season into overtime and when the snow cleared, the Lightning were the Atlantic Division champs.
Their prize, along with home ice throughout the Eastern Conference playoffs: the hard-charging Devils, who won all three meetings this season against the Lightning.
Game 1 is 7 p.m. Thursday at Amalie Arena with Game 2 at 3 p.m. Saturday.
"The guys are excited for the playoffs. We've clinched for a while now. We're kind of tired of waiting. We want to get started," Alex Killorn said after Saturday's 3-2 overtime loss to the Hurricanes.
The Lightning (54-23-5, 113 points) won the third division title in franchise history because the Bruins lost 4-2 at home Sunday to the Panthers in a game postponed from Jan. 4 because of a winter storm. It was played the day after the regular season was scheduled to end.
The Lightning's last division title came during the Stanley Cup-winning season of 2003-04. The Lightning also had home ice throughout the conference playoffs that season.
While disappointed in Saturday's loss, coach Jon Cooper said, "I'm not disappointed in our regular season. I'm really proud of the way the guys worked and everything they've done, and that was our goal, let's get to the playoffs. Where you finish, who you're going to play, a lot of that's out of your control. What was in your control was to make the playoffs. They did that. Now let's see who we play."
It is the Devils (44-29-9, 97), who ended the season on a roll with wins in seven of their last nine games.
Goalie Keith Kinkaid replaced an injured Cory Schneider in late January and led the Devils' drive to the final playoff spot by going 19-6-1.
Had the Bruins won Sunday, the Lightning would have finished second in the division and faced the Maple Leafs in the first round. It was 3-1 against the Leafs this season.
"No matter who we play it will be a tough opponent," Dan Girardi said. "We need to be up for every night. I'm sure we're all looking forward to get this thing going for the playoffs."
Lead by left wing Taylor Hall, who leads the Devils in points with 93 on 39 goals and 54 assists, the Devils have the speed to counteract the Lightning's speed. It beat the Lightning 5-4 in a shootout in October, 4-3 in Tampa in February and 2-1 on March 24 in New Jersey. The Devils won each game with a different goalie.
Forward Brian Boyle, named Friday during the Lightning's final home game of the regular season as one of the top-25 players in franchise history, returns to face his former team. He had 23 points in 69 games after missing the start of the season because of chronic myelogenous leukemia.
The Lightning set a franchise record for wins and points and could have added those totals had they not stumbled toward the end. That loss to the Devils in March started a slide for the Lightning, in which they earned seven points in final eight games.
"Either way we're happy about our season," Girardi said. "We got a lot of points, a lot of wins. We can't be too upset about it. It was a pretty good season."
