Tortorella insisted his team would win only if his best players outplayed Calgary's, and they did exactly that by winning the final two games after Calgary went home for Game 6 with a 3-2 series lead.

Fedotenko scored on goals created by Conn Smythe Award winner Brad Richards and Vincent Lecavalier and goalie Nikolai Khabibulin held off Calgary's late flurry while stopping 16 shots, including a remarkable save on Jordan Leopold when the net appeared wide open.

Enforcer Kristof Oliwa had tears streaming down his face when he saw the fans. Rookie defenseman Mike Commodore waded into the crowd and signed autographs for more than a half hour, waving off offers of a police escort. A downtown rally is planned for Wednesday at Olympic Plaza.

Tampa Bay, an expansion franchise in 1992 and one of the league's worst teams for much of the time since, joined the 2001 Avalanche as the only teams to overcome a 3-2 deficit in the finals in 33 years.

Maybe it's only coincidence, but in each series a 22-season veteran who had never won the Cup finally did so. Colorado's Ray Bourque did it in 2001, and 40-year-old Lightning captain Dave Andreychuk finally lifted the Stanley Cup after playing a record 1,758 games before Monday without winning it.

"It's awesome," Andreychuk said. "It took me 29 years [of hockey] to get here, and I'm so proud of our guys because we got a Game 7 at home because we worked hard all year long."