Double Team: Ruslan Fedotenko scored big goals for the Lightning and Penguins

While the NHL is on hold because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the Tribune-Review will offer the Double Team project, an examination of the five best players who have contributed substantially to the Penguins and another franchise. For consideration, a player must have played at least the equivalent of a full season for each franchise. (Sorry, Jarome Iginla fans.)

Today, a look at the Tampa Bay Lightning. Entering the NHL as an expansion team in 1992, the Lightning were named in recognition of Tampa’s claim as the “Lightning Capital of North America.”

In 149 all-time games against the Lightning, the Penguins have a 56-69-24 record.

1. Ruslan Fedotenko, left winger

During the final days of the NHL’s “dead puck” era in the mid-2000s, the Lightning were an outlier from most of the league in that they were aggressive offensively and had the players to play that way. Tampa Bay’s lineup was stacked with stars such as forwards Vincent Lecavalier, Brad Richards and Martin St. Louis.

Yet, with all that firepower, it was a nondescript winger from Ukraine who scored the Stanley Cup-clinching goal for the franchise’s only championship in 2004.

In fact, Fedotenko scored each of the Lightning’s goals in a 2-1 home win against the Calgary Flames in Game 7 of the thrilling 2004 Stanley Cup Final.

Acquired from the Philadelphia Flyers in a 2002 offseason trade, Fedotenko spent four seasons in Tampa as a supplementary player to the Lightning’s stars. Strong on the boards, Fedotenko could be counted to produce 30 to 40 points a season. After leading the Lightning with 12 goals during the 2004 playoffs, his best individual regular season came in 2005-06 when he posted 26 goals and 41 points in 80 games.

After spending a season with the New York Islanders, Fedotenko joined the Penguins as a free agent in the 2008 offseason. After grinding through an unremarkable regular season, he settled on the team’s second line with franchise center Evgeni Malkin and ended up being one of the team’s top producers during the run to the Stanley Cup championship in 2009.

He scored 14 points (seven goals, seven assists) in 24 games that spring. Arguably, his biggest score during that postseason came at 4:35 of the second period in a 5-3 road win against the rival Flyers. Down 3-0, Fedotenko scored the Penguins’ first goal – following linemate Maxime Talbot’s famous “shushing” of the crowd - and allowed them to stage a comeback to win the game and the series.

Fedotenko spent one more season in Pittsburgh before joining the New York Rangers as a free agent.

2. Ryan Malone, left winger

The son of former Penguins forward and scout Greg Malone, Ryan Malone holds a unique place in Penguins history as the best local player to wear the team’s colors. Raised in Upper St. Clair, Malone was selected by his hometown team in the fourth round of the 1999 draft.

Debuting in 2003-04, Malone had a strong rookie season for an otherwise wretched team, scoring 22 goals and 43 points in 81 games, and finished fifth in voting for the Calder Memorial Trophy, which recognizes the NHL’s top rookie.

Following the 2004-05 lockout, Malone remained steady throughout the 2005-06 season, producing 22 goals and 44 points in 77 games. After being limited by injuries throughout 2006-07, Malone broke out in 2007-08. Playing on a line with Malkin and Petr Sykora, Malone established career-highs in goals (27) and points (51) in 77 games. In the postseason, he produced a solid 16 points in 20 games while helping the Penguins reach the Stanley Cup Final, losing to the Detroit Red Wings.

In June of 2008, knowing they could not afford to retain him, the Penguins traded Malone’s signing rights to the Lightning, who then signed him to an ample seven-year contract worth $31.5 million.

The Lightning struggled during Malone’s first two seasons in Tampa, missing the playoffs. But the 6-foot-4 power forward was one of the team’s steadiest producers, reaching the 20-goal barrier in 2008-09 as well as 2009-10.

Malone fought injuries throughout the 2010-11 season but contributed to the Lightning’s run to the Eastern Conference final that season.

After reaching the 20-goal mark again in 2011-12, Malone battled through injuries and had his contract bought out following an arrest for drunk driving in 2014.

3. John Cullen, center

Cullen has a strange place in NHL history as the best player ever selected in the NHL’s supplemental draft.

From 1986-94, the NHL staged a supplemental draft for players who were not eligible for the standard entry draft. Selected No. 10 overall in 1986 by the Buffalo Sabres, Cullen was the only supplemental draft pick to ever reach an All-Star Game (1991 and 1992).

Cullen never played with the Sabres but joined the Penguins as an invitee to their 1988 training camp. After producing 49 points in 79 games and helping the Penguins reach their first postseason in seven years as a rookie in 1988-89, Cullen broke out as the team’s No. 2 center to Mario Lemieux in 1989-90. Dressing in 72 games that season, Cullen produced 32 goals and 92 points.

Cullen stepped up in a major way during the 1990-91 season while Lemieux recuperated from a back injury. Centering the team’s top line with Mark Recchi and Kevin Stevens, Cullen was one of the league’s top scorers and earned his first All-Star selection with 31 goals and 94 points through 65 games.

But at the trade deadline, he was part of one of the biggest trades in NHL history as he was sent to the Hartford Whalers in a blockbuster deal that brought defensemen Grant Jennings, Ulf Samuelsson and Ron Francis to the Penguins.

The Penguins won the Stanley Cup that spring while Cullen rarely experienced much success in Hartford.

After returning to the Penguins as a free agent in 1994 and putting up a solid 37 points in 46 games during the lockout-shortened 1994-95 campaign, Cullen joined the Lightning as a free agent during the ensuing offseason.

Serving as second-line center, Cullen posted 50 points in 76 games during the 1995-96 season and helped the franchise reach the postseason for the first time. In five playoff games, he was the team’s leading scorer with six points.

Posting 55 points in 70 games during 1996-97, Cullen’s season came to a halt in March when he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. After missing the entire 1997-98 campaign to undergo chemotherapy, Cullen’s comeback in 1998-99 lasted only four games before he retired. Regardless, he was named winner of the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, which recognizes dedication to the sport.

4. Darryl Sydor, defenseman

Sydor didn’t spend much time in his career with the Lightning or the Penguins, but he was part of considerable successes for each organization.

The Lightning acquired Sydor from the Columbus Blue Jackets in January of 2004 and his smooth skating and high hockey IQ seemed to fit in immediately with the talented roster. Serving primarily as a second-pairing defenseman, Sydor offered a steady, consistent presence on the blue line for the Lightning during the 2004 postseason. Working on the point of the top power-play unit, he contributed six assists in 23 games en route to the Stanley Cup.

Following the 2004-05 lockout, Sydor scored 23 points in 80 games during the 2005-06 season before leaving as a free agent, joining the Dallas Stars in the 2006 offseason.

After a year in Dallas, Sydor joined the Penguins as a free agent in July of 2007. Serving as depth defenseman with ample veteran experience on a team full of teenagers and 20-somethings, Sydor played in 74 games and netted 13 points while helping the team reach the 2008 Stanley Cup Final.

After eight games and two points in 2008-09, he was traded to the Stars once again in November of 2008.

5. Chris Kunitz, left winger

Kunitz’s best days were not with the Lightning. But even serving primarily as a fourth-liner, he managed to play all 82 games of the 2017-18 campaign at the age of 38, putting up 29 points for a team that reached the Eastern Conference Final.

Of course, the high points of Kunitz’s career came in a Penguins jersey. Acquired via trade from the Anaheim Ducks in February of 2009, Kunitz, a buzzsaw of a power forward, became a trusted winger to franchise center Sidney Crosby during his nine seasons in Pittsburgh, winning the Stanley Cup three times.

The first of those three championships came following the trade in 2009. After putting up 18 points in 20 regular season games, Kunitz contributed 14 points in 24 postseason games before lifting the Stanley Cup.

After laboring with injuries throughout the 2009-10 campaign, Kunitz rebounded in 2010-11 to become a steady 20-goal scorer, reaching that mark three consecutive seasons, even the lockout-shortened 2012-13 campaign when he had 22 goals and 52 points in 48 games and earned a first-team postseason All-Star selection.

Kunitz’s signature season of 2013-14 saw him set career-highs of 35 goals and 68 points in 78 games while also winning the gold medal with Canada in the Olympic tournament.

Age appeared to catch up to Kunitz in 2014-15 as he was limited to 40 points over the next two seasons. Regardless, he remained on the top line throughout the 2015-16 season and in that spring’s playoffs, he contributed 12 points in 24 games, helping the Penguins win the Stanley Cup once again.

In 2016-17, Kunitz inhabited more of a bottom-six role, appearing in 71 games and recording 29 points. And in 20 postseason games, he recorded 11 points for another Stanley Cup championship team.

The following offseason, he joined the Lightning as a free agent.

Honorable mention: Marc Bergevin, defenseman.

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