Best Forwards in Lightning History
April 17th, 2018 The one consistent throughout the Tampa Bay Lightning's history is their affinity for having star forwards on their roster. Over the course of 25 years, the franchise built themselves around the philosophy of score first and score often, sometimes at the expense of the other positions on the ice....
Lightning Can't Sleep on the Devils
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Johnson Is the Lightning's Playoff Hero
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Lightning Need Stamkos to Step Up
April 12th, 2018
Best Defenders in Lightning History
April 12th, 2018Lightning Contributors
Eugene Helfrick
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Tampa Bay Lightning
Should Lightning Be Concerned About Stamkos' Future?
With Steven Stamkos suffering a lower-body injury that will likely keep him sidelined until the end of the regular season, the Tampa Bay Lightning will be forced to face meaningful games at the end of the year without their captain. With a playoff spot already secured, it is important for Stamkos to be in full form if the Bolts intend to compete for the Stanley Cup this year. However, playing without him at the end of the season is nothing new for the Lightning, who have been without their captain in April each of the last three years. Since taking a puck to the face in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final in 2010-11, Stamkos has been plagued with injuries of all types and severity. While he played a complete season in 2011-12 and half a year in the lock-out shortened 2012-13 season, he has only played 82 games once over the next five years. In both the 2013-14 and 2016-17 seasons, Stamkos suffered major lower-body injuries that kept him sidelined for the majority of...
Toronto Maple Leafs
Leafs Should Be Licking Chops for Lightning
The Toronto Maple Leafs have been locked into the third Atlantic Division playoff spot for what seems like forever. Now, with just one game to go in their 2017-18 National Hockey League season, they seem destined (assuming the Boston Bruins continue their strong play and finish first) to play the Tampa Bay Lightning in round one. Though the Floridians were a Stanley Cup favourite before the season, have flirted with first place in the league and have several players in serious contention for major awards, the Leafs should be licking their chops for the chance to play the Lightning. Lightning Struggling to Calm Storm On the surface, this seems asinine; the Leafs are 3-1 against the Bruins this season, and 7-1 the past two years combined. Meanwhile, they are just 1-2-1 against the Bolts in 2017-18, and 3-4-1 over the last two seasons. Clearly, Boston seems like the better matchup. However, the Lightning have slowed considerably in recent weeks, leaving them vulnerable to an...
Lightning Goaltending
Vasilevskiy Salvaging End of Season
On Jan. 22, Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy shutout the Chicago Blackhawks, putting a cap on one of the most dominant months of play in his young career. This was his fourth shutout since Dec. 23 and seventh of the season, putting him into a tie with Nikolai Khabibulin for the single-season shutout record for the Lightning. With his strong play and overall dominance in the month prior, Vasilevksiy seemed destined to break this record in short notice. Over the next two months, though, he stood with seven shutouts, unable to find that final perfect game. As the year dragged on, Vasilevskiy's play started to falter, as he allowed in more goals each game. Fatigue seemed to be a big factor, as this still was his first full season in the NHL, and the workload of starting 60 plus games really started to show by late February. While he was still finding ways to win games at the start of the month, by the end of March, nothing was going right for him. March...
Tampa Bay Lightning
Rangers Fans: No Shame in Rooting for Lightning
For the diehard Rangers fan, this recent audition for the future has been fun. Neal Pionk, Rob O'Gara, John Gilmour and Ryan Sproul had their struggles, then showed enough progress to suggest a keeper or two just might come out of this revamped defense corps. Highly touted forwards Lias Andersson and Filip Chytil have shown flashes while also suffering through the adjustments to the NHL game in their limited action. Jimmy Vesey may have shown just enough to keep the club from giving up on him as a future top-nine forward. And Chris Kreider's late-season rise might suggest he's a new player, with a changed approach and outlook on his career after a health scare that could have cost him more than his ability to play hockey. All of that, however, goes away three games from now, as Madison Square Garden won't host a Rangers playoff game for the first spring since 2010. What do for the dyed-in-the-wool Blueshirt fan then? Trade up to a lighter shade of blue for a couple of...Lightning Archives
Martin St. Louis, the Little Big Man
This article was originally written in August, 2010. Little Big Men have always been a staple in the NHL. You know the type: fast as the wind, nimble on their feet, quick with their hands, tough to play against. Henri Richard, Marcel Dionne, Brian Gionta. Martin St. Louis of the Tampa Bay... November 4th, 2017
