TAMPA, Fla. (CP) -- Three years after the Tampa Bay Lightning acquired him from Phoenix hoping he could deliver the ultimate prize, Nikolai Khabibulin hoisted the Stanley Cup over his shoulders.

 "If you go back three years ago, I don't know too many people would have thought we could win the Stanley Cup," Khabibulin said after making 16 saves Monday night to backstop the Lightning to a 2-1 Game 7 victory over the Calgary Flames.

 And Khabibulin got the last laugh after taking a back seat to other netminders when it came to the media spotlight in these playoffs.

 There was Ed Belfour stoning Ottawa in Toronto's first-round win, Jose Theodore leading Montreal to a first-round upset of Boston, Robert Esche proving his critics wrong in Philadelphia, Evgeny Nabokov shutting down heavily favoured Colorado in San Jose's second-round victory, and of course Miikka Kiprusoff's magical run leading the Flames to one win from a Stanley Cup.

 All along Khabibulin was working his magic in near obscurity, winning eight of his first nine starts as Tampa easily disposed of the New York Islanders and Montreal Canadiens in the first two rounds. He then beat Esche in the Eastern Conference final, recovering from a bad outing in Game 4 to outright win Game 5 for the Bolts.

 And after a shaky Game 1 of the Cup final, Khabibulin steadily improved his play as the games got more important, allowing only six goals in the final four games -- three of them Tampa victories.

 "I didn't really try to put too much pressure on myself going into the playoffs," said Khabibulin. "I just tried to do my best and see where it took us."

 His pad save on Jarome Iginla in the first period of Game 5 may be remembered as the save of the playoffs, robbing the Calgary superstar of a sure goal.

 He ultimately outduelled Kiprusoff in the final, the Flames netminder who got more ink than any other after his equally superb spring.

 If Khabibulin doesn't get the credit he deserves, some of it has been his own doing. He doesn't like talking to the media and never makes himself available on game days, limiting his visibility. When he does talk, he says very little.

 His play, however, speaks volumes.

 The 31-year-old Russian had five shutouts in these playoffs, two short of Martin Brodeur's record of seven last year.

 The Lightning got exactly what they were searching for, a bonafide No. 1 goalie, when they acquired him from Phoenix in March 2001 along with Stan Neckar in exchange for Mike Johnson, Paul Mara, Ruslan Zainullin and a second-round draft choice.

 But Khabibulin, earning $4.6 million US this season, arrived in Tampa with a reputation for being lazy and inconsistent. That all changed.

 "I was with Nik in Phoenix a number of years ago where Nik was out of shape, smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee, the whole nine yards," says Tampa head coach John Tortorella. "He is a tremendous talent. You can see how much talent he has and I think what he's done is bring the conditioning part into it and then that's a very important thing for a goaltender as all athletes.

 "He is probably one of our top fit athletes right now. Compared to about five or six years ago, it's a whole different person. He brings his conditioning in it and just his mindset of wanting to be the best, and I think that's what carries him as far as being a world-class goalie."