Victor Hedman

Quick Strikes: Kucherov Named First Star for November, Road Woes Continue & Another Blown Multi Goal Lead

Coming off of a good week, earning points in five straight games, the Tampa Bay Lightning were riding high and in a playoff spot heading into this past week. Unfortunately, four straight regulation losses undid any of the good they had done and left many scratching their heads. The beginning of the week saw back-to-back […]

Stars Take Down Lightning 8-1

The Dallas Stars and Tampa Bay Lightning played the first game of their home-and-home series on Saturday afternoon. The Stars took down the Lightning 8-1 at the American Airlines Center. Dallas improved to 14-5-3, while Tampa Bay fell to 10-10-5. The Stars’ starting lineup featured Jani Hakanpää, Esa Lindell, Ty Dellandrea, Wyatt Johnston, Jamie Benn, and […]

Quick Strikes: Reviewing the Past Three Weeks

It’s just past American Thanksgiving, the time in which teams can legitimately assess their postseason chances. Three weeks ago, the Tampa Bay Lightning had struggled to hold leads late in games despite solid goaltending from two career backups, couldn’t win in overtime to save their life, and had a single win in four games away […]

Tampa Bay Lightning 2023-24’ Season Preview

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. Hockey is back in the Bay, and that brings about excitement and even some nerves. For the Tampa Bay Lightning, the 2023-24’ season sees change to the team’s identity after a six game first round series loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs ended their streak of three […]

Steven Stamkos on the ice for the Tampa Bay Lightning

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 […]

Vasilevskiy Must Steal a Few Games If Lightning Want to Advance in the Playoffs

With the playoffs in their early stages, it’s hard to say a goaltender has to be better. That’s especially true when the series is tied, and both goalies have been shaky. In saying that, the Tampa Bay Lightning need much more out of Andrei Vasilevskiy. He can play better than fans have seen most of […]

Shuffling the Deck: Tampa Bay Lightning Lineup to Look Different as Injuries Mount

The Stanley Cup Playoffs are a war of attrition; teams quite literally grind each other down in the hopes of being the last team standing with the Stanley Cup hoisted high above their heads. Not many teams know this better than the Tampa Bay Lightning. They have played in the last three Stanley Cup Finals […]

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, […]

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 […]