Steven Stamkos

Lightning Must Prioritize Extending Steven Stamkos

With the 2023-24 roster finally taking shape, Tampa Bay Lightning general manager Julien Brisebois is set to work on assembling future rosters for the Bolts. First, he signed 2022 trade deadline acquisition Brandon Hagel to an eight-year contract extension with a $6.5 million AAV. That won’t kick in until the 2024-25 season. He then inked […]

Steven Stamkos Captures Mark Messier NHL Leadership Award

With the offseason in full gear, some NHL players, coaches, and general managers gathered at Bridgestone Arena Monday night to honor the best of the best from the 2022-23′ season. For Tampa Bay Lightning fans, a surprise was in store. Captain Steven Stamkos won the 2023 Mark Messier NHL Leadership Award. He’s the first Bolt […]

Tampa Bay Lightning 2022-2023 Season Review

Heading into the 2022-23 season, the Tampa Bay Lightning had high expectations after falling just short of capturing their third consecutive Stanley Cup. While they struggled late in the regular season and even during the playoffs, there were definitely things to celebrate. Going forward into another difficult offseason, it’s important to remember the good times […]

Lightning’s High Expectations Make Early Exit Feel Like a Failure

After three straight Stanley Cup Final appearances, the Tampa Bay Lightning entered the 2022-23 season expecting to make the playoffs and advance past the first round. Keeping that in mind, one can imagine the shock and disbelief players, coaches, and management felt when their season ended on April 29, 2023. For the math nuts, that’s […]

Lightning Need More From Their Stars

While the Tampa Bay Lightning avoided elimination in Game 5, they didn’t get any scoring out of their star players. Going forward, that can’t continue happening if they plan to beat the Toronto Maple Leafs. The top line of Steven Stamkos, Brayden Point, and Nikita Kucherov has a combined four goals in five games. They […]

Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Toronto Maple Leafs Playoff Preview

Another year, another first round matchup between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Toronto Maple Leafs. If the two teams didn’t have any animosity built up already, they should by now, considering they just met in a playoff preview of sorts at Amalie Arena one week ago. In saying that, neither team was at full strength, […]

Point Joins Elite Club; Lightning End Regular Season with Shutout Win

Coming in with a four game losing streak, the Tampa Bay Lightning hoped to fine-tune their game and possibly hit individual milestones in the final regular season game against the much-improved Detroit Red Wings. Mission accomplished on all fronts. Brandon Hagel scored 30 goals, Alex Killorn reached a career-high 27 goals, and backup goaltender Brian […]

Stamkos Injured Early in Lightning Win Over Blackhawks

Saturday night was a mixed bag for fans at Amalie Arena in Tampa. They saw their captain, Steven Stamkos, go down during a late first-period power play. Nothing looked amiss until he stood up and took one stride toward the bench. That’s when he grabbed the back of his left leg, slowly skated to the […]

Lightning Dominated in Loss to Hurricanes; Is this Rock Bottom?

After a game that saw coach Jon Cooper bench his top line for the entire third period 24 hours ago, a better effort was expected Sunday in Raleigh. Instead, the Tampa Bay Lightning laid another egg in a 6-0 shutout loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. That leads some to question if this is rock bottom […]

Cooper Sends Message to Lightning by Benching Top Players in Third Period Against Sabres

The Tampa Bay Lightning have been struggling to win games, with the biggest issue being their inability to play up to team standards. Nothing screams this more than their current four-game losing streak while being outscored 21 to 11. Everything reached a boiling point after a second period which saw the Lightning give up three […]