With all due respect to Coach Guy Boucher and the 2010-11 Tampa Bay Lightning team that went on such a great playoff run, the nucleus of the current run of success for the club debuted in the 2014 Stanley Cup playoffs against the Montreal Canadiens. Six players (Steven Stamkos, Ondrej Palat, Victor Hedman, Alex Killorn, Tyler Johnson, and Nikita Kucherov) all played in the 2014 first round match-up against the Canadiens.
While things didn’t work out great for that team (the Bolts were swept) it kicked off a run of success few franchises have been able to match.