Welcome to this edition of Lightning Strikes, a series featuring quotes and comments from players, coaches, management, journalists, and fans alike concerning the Tampa Bay Lightning. This ongoing column aims to capture a slice of the existing outlook, attitudes, and culture surrounding the team. The Lightning came from their one-week break and picked up two victories over
Andrei Vasilevskiy
The Minnesota Wild were back home after nearly three weeks on the road on Friday night, Nov. 1, when they took on the Tampa Bay Lightning. After missing the past five games due to injury and illness, Ryan Hartman returned for the Wild. Filip Gustavsson was in net for the Wild, looking to rebound from
On Oct. 21, the Toronto Maple Leafs (4-2-0) had their way with the Tampa Bay Lightning (3-2-0), handing the Bolts a 5-2 defeat at Scotiabank Arena. This win bumped the Maple Leafs up to second place in the Atlantic Division. Toronto opened the scoring, courtesy of a William Nylander glove-side shot off a feed from
The Florida Panthers defeated the Edmonton Oilers in Game 7 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final to capture the franchise’s first championship. One of the building blocks of their title-winning lineup came to town as a free agent in 2019. Two-time Vezina Trophy winner Sergei Bobrovsky relocated from Columbus to Florida and, within four seasons,
Andrei Vasilevskiy‘s post-surgery season came and went. Now that it’s been a few weeks since this season ended, it’s time for a final evaluation. It was nowhere near the quality of any previous season. Let’s get that obvious point out of the way. But was it all bad? Sometimes it certainly felt that way, but
With how this season started, it’s a borderline miracle that this clinch is in reach, let alone with a week and a half left in the NHL regular season. But that’s a testament to the resilience of the Tampa Bay Lightning. In the first half of the season, as soon as they appeared to find
The Tampa Bay Lightning have one representative playing in the 2024 World Junior Championships (WJC). Isaac Howard has played quite well for Team USA and has helped lead them to the number one seed in Pool B heading into the quarterfinals. The tournament has become a holiday tradition for many hockey fans worldwide, beginning on
Hindsight is great because it allows us to look back at events and determine if the correct decisions were made. 10 years later and it is clear there were some misses in the 2012 NHL Draft including the top four selections. Now that we know how these players turned out, here is a re-draft of
After going through some ups and downs through the first month of the season, the Tampa Bay Lightning head into the month of November having earned 11 points, which still keeps them in a solid position to qualify for this year’s playoffs. Looking ahead at their schedule reveals some key matchups against teams expected to
In today’s NHL rumors rundown, the Tampa Bay Lightning need to make a decision in regards to their goaltending. How will they replace Andrei Vasilevskiy? Meanwhile, there are still teams looking at Matt Grzelcyk of the Boston Bruins. Will the Montreal Canadiens trade a forward? The Edmonton Oilers announced the departure of Steve Staios who
July 7 is a significant date in National Hockey League history as a pair of signings made it easier for players from Europe to come over, forever changing the game. There were also a handful of coaching moves and the birth of a Hall of Famer beloved in the Mile High City. Finally, to put
In Steel Town, USA, Hockey fans look back on May 26 with a great amount of fondness. In addition, this date was a big one for coaching changes in the National Hockey League, and it also saw the start of a new tradition after winning the Stanley Cup. Let’s begin our daily journey through the
Welcome to this edition of the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Stock Up and Stock Down, with the final edition of the 2022-23 season focusing on looking back on the season and what lies ahead. It has been a while since Tampa Bay Lightning fans had to see the team conduct their end-of-season media availability in the
As the Tampa Bay Lightning and Colorado Avalanche faced off in the 2022 Stanley Cup Final, it brought to mind one of the most important interactions between the franchises in their history. More than a decade ago, things looked very different for both Colorado and Tampa Bay, as neither team was objectively terrible (that would
After starting their week with an impressive 5-4 shootout win over the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday (Feb. 14), the Tampa Bay Lightning finished up the week and their four-game road trip with a 1-0 shootout loss to the Arizona Coyotes on Wednesday (Feb. 15) and a 5-4 defeat at the hands of the Vegas Golden
When you talk about the Tampa Bay Lightning’s recent goaltending situation, the conversation starts and stops with Andrei Vasilevskiy. He is widely considered to be one of the best goaltenders in the world, after all, who can take on 50-plus starts each season when healthy and is still under thirty years old. Due to this,
In the NHL, teams need reliable goaltending to see success and good goaltenders are pivotal to a strong regular season and playoff run. However, how goaltenders are used and how often they start games are just as important to a team’s success. A lot of teams have talent in the net, but the decision to
With 20 games in the books, the Tampa Bay Lightning find themselves fourth in the Atlantic Division, with 25 points. They started the season 5-4, having lost three of their first four games. At times, the Lightning have played up to their championship level. Though, there have been just as many games where they seem