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Valtteri Filppula does little things in big way for Lightning

 
Lightning center Valtteri Filppula controls the puck while being pursued by Red Wings defenseman Danny DeKeyser during Saturday’s Game 2 of Tampa Bay’s first-round series against Filppula’s former team, the Red Wings.
Lightning center Valtteri Filppula controls the puck while being pursued by Red Wings defenseman Danny DeKeyser during Saturday’s Game 2 of Tampa Bay’s first-round series against Filppula’s former team, the Red Wings.
Published April 21, 2015

DETROIT — Valtteri Filppula will be right here. He just needs a few moments.

Lightning practice ended about an hour ago and Filppula will be glad to talk about his new team, his old team and how his new team is playing his old team in these Stanley Cup playoffs. But, before all that, he has something else a little more important to tend to.

First, a deep-muscle massage then a little work from the chiropractor.

Finally, Filppula pops out of the training room, good as new and looking particularly spry for a guy who has used his freshly tuned-up back to help carry the Lightning for the past two seasons.

When most people think of the Lightning, they think of captain Steven Stamkos, one of the most lethal scorers in all of hockey. They think of Ben Bishop, who has emerged as one of the best netminders in the game. This season, Tyler Johnson and his Triplets line have garnered their share of applause.

But Filppula is one of those players who always seems overlooked and underappreciated. Makes no sense. After all, he has become a key contributor and leader in the Lightning's rise to one of the league's best teams over the past two seasons.

Then again, maybe it is easy to forget about the Lightning center. He isn't flashy. He doesn't do the type of things that gets you on SportsCenter. But what he does is the type of things that gets your team in the conversation for being a championship contender.

"He just does a lot of those unnoticed things," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said.

He wins faceoffs. He plays defense. He walks down all of hockey's dark alleys, like the corners and the front of the net. He passes rather than shoots. He leads by example, not by words. Maybe he doesn't do anything spectacularly well, but he does everything that needs to be done to help his team win.

Just ask any of his teammates.

"He has been enormous," Lightning center Brian Boyle said. "He has been a horse for us. Plays tons of minutes. Hard, hard minutes. Every situation. He makes the guys he plays with better. Not a ton of goals, but he is setting guys up most of the time."

Like Saturday's Game 2 when his brilliant back-door pass set up Andrej Sustr's first goal of the season. He also added a goal of his own in the Lightning's 5-1 victory.

Goal. Assist. Key faceoff wins. Shutting down the other team's top line. Pretty typical performance from Filppula.

And tonight, he returns to where he learned how to play that all-around game: Detroit.

"Obviously, the first few times I went back, it was pretty weird," Filppula said. "But I'm used to it and I don't think (tonight) is going to be any different than any other playoff game."

Filppula would know about playoff games. He has appeared in 111 of them, all but six with Detroit. He spent seven full seasons with the Red Wings, playing alongside stars such as Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk.

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"I just think I learned overall how to play from those guys," Filppula said. "They do everything right. They play really well defensively and, obviously, have good offensive skills. Just all-around play is the thing that most impressed me about them."

Filppula won a Stanley Cup in 2008 and he probably could have stayed in Detroit for the rest of his career. But he decided to test free agency. Along came the Lightning, looking to replace Vinny Lecavalier, whose contract was bought out.

It's never easy to replace a legend and everyone with Tampa Bay insisted that Filppula wasn't expected to do all the things Lecavalier did. It also wasn't easy for Filppula to leave the Red Wings.

"Yeah, it was tough," Filppula said. "I was there a long time. But at the same time, I'm really happy about the decision and I'm really happy here. I spent a lot of time there and had some great teammates and great friends so that makes it a little tougher."

Tampa Bay, however, seemed like a perfect fit.

"I feel like style-wise, they played similar type of hockey than I was used to (in Detroit)," Filppula said. "Coming here wasn't that difficult. You got great guys and a lot younger team, which is nice, too."

Two seasons later, there's no question that Filppula has earned his $5-millon-a-year salary and helped Lightning fans get over the loss of the immensely popular Lecavalier. He also has been more productive than Vinny.

Last season, Filppula, 31, potted a career-high 25 goals. This season, his numbers are not as impressive (12 goals, 36 assists, minus-14), yet anyone who follows the Lightning knows how critical he has been to the Lightning's success.

He also brings leadership and experience that others cannot, being the only current Lightning player whose name is on the Stanley Cup.

"He know what it takes to go deep in the playoffs," linemate Vladislav Namestnikov said.

Perhaps the Lightning will find out this spring what it takes to go deep in the playoffs. If so, figure that Filppula will do his share of the heavy lifting.