With his bestest buddy watching from the sideline, Anthony Cirelli recorded his second career hat trick as the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins, 6-3. With the win, and a Buffalo Sabres loss, the Lightning crept back into a tie atop of the division and crested the 100 point mark for the seventh time under Jon Cooper’s leadership. Speaking of keeping it 100, Zemgus Girgensons recorded his 100th career goal (and it was the eventual game-winner).
Mitchell Chaffee returned ...
Game Seventy-Five: Pittsburgh Penguins (38-21-16) at Tampa Bay Lightning (46-22-6)
Time: 7:00 PM EST
Location: Benchmark International Arena, Where Mario Lemieux played twice (and recorded 1 goal and 2 assists)
TV/Stream/Radio: The Spot, SN-PIT, ESPN+, 102.5 FM, Lightning App
Odds: Lightning -180
Know the Opponents: Pensburgh
We have ourselves the makings of a mini-trap game for the Tampa Bay Lightning. Coming off of a 4-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday...
On Wednesday, the Tampa Bay Lightning held a practice. At this time of year, that’s a pretty rare thing. With the amount of games they’ve played recently, rest is paramount to a team’s success. However, there is always a need to refine aspects of their game, something that can only be done in a controlled environment like practice. Not everyone participated, however.
The lines we saw at today’s #GoBolts practice:
Guentzel-Point-Kucherov
Goncalves-Cirelli-Bjorkstrand
Girgensons-Gourde-H...
Cole Caufield’s second period goal broke a 1-1 tie and Jakub Dobes stopped 36 saves as Tampa Bay’s eight-game point streak comes to an end in a 4-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens. Jake Guentzel had the Lightning’s lone goal while Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 19 shots, including several big saves early in the third period when the game was 2-1.
Nikita Kucherov was held off of the scoreboard (and had two penalties) in his return to action after missing two games with an illness. Scott Sabouri...
Game Seventy-Four: Montreal Canadiens (42-21-5) at Tampa Bay Lightning (46-21-6)
Time: 7:00 PM EST
Location: Benchmark International Arena, A stone’s throw away from the home of Phoebe the Flamingo
TV/Stream/Radio: The Spot, ESPN+, 102.5 FM, Lightning App
Odds: Lightning -170
Know the Opponents: Eyes on the Prize
While everyone (and by everyone, we mean us) has been focused on catching the Buffalo Sabres, the Montreal Canadiens have slowly been lingering right beh...
It appears teams aren’t going to wait for the end of the season to start making changes. A day after the Vegas Golden Knights fired the most successful coach in their history and replaced him with an old friend, the Toronto Maple Leafs parted ways with general manager Brad Treliving. With the disappointing season the Leafs had this season, it someone was going to have to pay the price. It’s usually the general manager or the head coach, and, for now, it’s Treliving.
Making the change now ...
We could write a thousand words about today’s game. Or we could just link back to the previous three or four recaps. The Tampa Bay Lightning struggled to start the game, fell behind, tied the game, and were the better team in the third period. Corey Perry tapped home a shot that snuck through Justus Annunen’s pads seven minutes into the third period to give the Bolts the 3-2 lead.
To the Lightning’s credit, they’re getting better. They only went down one goal this time, and it took almost...
Game 73: Nashville Predators (34-30-9) at Tampa Bay Lightning (45-21-6)
Time: 5:00 PM EST
Location: Benchmark International Arena, Steven Stamkos’ house for sixteen seasons
TV/Stream/Radio: The Spot, ESPN+, 102.5 FM, Lightning App
Odds: Lightning -205
Know the Opponents: On the Forecheck
For much of the season, the Tampa Bay Lightning have been lagging behind the rest of the league in terms of games played. Entering today’s play, only San Jose (71 games) have suit...
Heading into their Saturday afternoon contest with the Ottawa Senators, the Tampa Bay Lightning knew they needed to start fast and break the string of early multi-goal deficits they’ve faced over the last few games. Just because they knew what they needed to do didn’t mean they actually did it. On the very first shift of the game they conceded a goal. Four minutes later they gave up another one.
As they have every other time, they came back to tie the game up. Unlike against Seattle and C...
Game Seventy-Two : Ottawa Senators (38-24-10) at Tampa Bay Lightning (44-21-6)
Time: 1:00 PM EST
Location: Benchmark International Arena, Where Pat Jablonski made 38 saves on 11/13/1992 as the Lightning beat the Senators 1-0 on a Brian Bradley goal. It was the first shutout in franchise history.
TV/Stream/Radio: The Spot, TVAS, TSN5, ESPN+, 102.5 FM, Lightning App
Odds: Lightning
Know the Opponents: Silver Seven Sens
First off. Thank you Detroit Red Wings. Your 5-...
We’re keeping this one short. Since we were live in the building, haven’t had a chance to dive too deep into things, but here are few positive thoughts, and a few negative thoughts from the Tampa Bay Lightning’s 4-3 overtime loss to the Seattle Kraken.
Positive thought:
The Lightning went 1-for-1 on the power play. Not only that, it was the second unit that scored the goal. Corey Perry was doing Corey Perry things and roofed a nice shot from in close to tie the game up at three. It w...
Game Seventy-One : Seattle Kraken (31-29-10) at Tampa Bay Lightning (44-21-5)
Time: 7:00 PM EST
Location: Benchmark International Arena, Where the Lightning are 0-1 with Raw Charge in the building this season
TV/Stream/Radio: The Spot, KONG, ESPN+, 102.5 FM, Lightning App
Odds: Lightning -290
Know the Opponents: Davy Jones Locker Room
It wasn’t that long ago that these two teams faced off in Seattle. A somewhat struggling Lightning team kicked off a successful roa...
After being scratched from the last few games, it appears the Tampa Bay Lightning’s captain will be away from the team for an undisclosed amount of time. On Wednesday the team announced that Hedman will be “on a temporary leave for personal reasons”.
It’s been an up and down season for the future hall-of-famer who has been limited to just 33 games this season due to injuries. However, he was able to represent his home country in the Olympics, a thrill that ranks as one of his top experien...
Down by two goals to a team that has had their number over the years, the Tampa Bay Lightning found a way to come back as they scored five straight goals to defeat the Minnesota Wild 6-3 to start their road trip. Darren Raddysh had three points, including his 20th goal of the season, and Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 20-of-23 for league-leading 34th win of the season.
First Period
For much of the first period, the Lightning were skating in cement as the Wild controlled the pace of ...
Game Seventy: Minnesota Wild (40-19-12) at Tampa Bay Lightning (43-21-5)
Time: 7:30 PM EST
Location: Benchmark International Arena, where we once saw Brian Johnson run around on stage with Klaus Meine on his shoulders
TV/Stream/Radio: TNT, truTV, HBO MAX, 102.5 FM, Lightning App (audio only)
Odds: Lightning -170
Know the Opponents: Hockey Wilderness
The Tampa Bay Lightning had the day off on Monday as they reacclimated to their usual time zone after a long trip ou...
It was a pretty good week for the Tampa Bay Lightning as they took seven out of eight points on their trip out west. Andrei Vasilevskiy picked up three wins, but the engine behind the wins was Nikita Kucherov. The winger put up 6 goals and 7 assists with two of those tallies counting as game-winners. The thirteen points moved him past Connor McDavid in the Art Ross race and garnered him the First Star of the Week Award from the NHL.
The Predators Filip Forsberg, 4 goals, 5 assists, and Mo...
The Tampa Bay Lightning started their four-game road trip four points behind the Buffalo Sabres and a two-point lead on the Montreal Canadiens. Despite picking up seven out of eight points they are still four points behind the Sabres, but they did manage to stretch their lead over third-place Montreal to five points. They almost made it a perfect eight points on the road trip, but Ryan Strome’s shot in overtime trickled through Jonas Johansson to give the Calgary Flames a 4-3 win.
Johanss...
Game Sixty-Nine: Tampa Bay Lightning (43-21-4) at Calgary Flames (28-34-7)
Time: 8:00 PM EST
Location: Scotiabank Saddledome, Where Alanis Morisette will be performing during the Calgary Stampede in July
TV/Stream/Radio: The Spot, SNW, ESPN+, 102.5 FM, Lightning App
Odds: Lightning -175
Know the Opponents: Flamesnation
A road trip that produces three wins out of four games is a successful voyage away from home. However, at this point in the season, the Lightning w...
In a game between the NHL’s two top scorers, it was Nikita Kucherov emerging on top as he outdueled Connor McDavid in the Lightning’s 5-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers. Kucherov scored twice, including his first career short-handed goal, and added two assists while McDavid had Edmonton’s first goal of the game. With the four points, Kucherov moved ahead of McDavid in the scoring race.
Anthony Cirelli, who missed most of the second half of the game following a second-period fight with Vasil...
Game Sixty-Eight: Tampa Bay Lightning (42-21-4) at Edmonton Oilers (34-27-4)
Time: 10:00 PM EST
Location: Rogers Place, Where Roman Hamrlik was traded to save money
TV/Stream/Radio: The Spot, CBC, SN, TVAS2, CITY, ESPN+, 102.5 FM, Lightning App
Odds: Lightning -142
Know the Opponents: Oilers Nation
Sometimes it’s not who you play, but when you play them. If there was ever a time to take on a team that features the best player in hockey, it’s now. The Edmonton Oile...
Was it a perfect win for the Tampa Bay Lightning? No, but they took care of business as they helped Vancouver get one step closer to the best odds in the draft lottery downing the Canucks, 6-2. Six different players scored for the Lightning and Nikita Kucherov posted a three-point night in the victory. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 19-of-21 for the victory.
There were some struggles along the way as Vancouver was able to pin them in the zone for stretches at times. The passing wasn’t as cris...
Game Sixty-Seven: Tampa Bay Lightning (41-21-4) at Vancouver (21-38-4)
Time: 10:00 PM EST
Location: Rogers Arena, Vancouver
TV/Stream/Radio: The Spot, SNP, ESPN+, 102.5 FM, Lightning App
Odds: Lightning -290
Know the Opponents: Canucks Army
As one might expect, the Tampa Bay Lightning, despite their recent struggles are heavy favorites heading into tonight’s game against Vancouver. So, they can just chalk up the two points and move on with their life, right? Wrong...
This is it folks. We’re officially into the last month of the regular season. The NHL playoffs are slated to start on Saturday, April 18th, so it’s officially go time for the league. For the first time in quite awhile, nothing is really set yet in either conference. Despite most teams only having 15-17 games to go, no one has been officially eliminated yet, nor has anyone clinched (Colorado is the closest with a magic number of 5). There is still plenty to be determined, and the Tampa Bay Ligh...
Editor’s note – Hi. A little while back, Acha, the former managing editor of this place inquired if she could share some thoughts about the U.S. Men’s Hockey team, their locker room conversation with the president, and the attendance of the vast majority of the team at the State of the Union. I agreed without hesitation. While we are primarily a site devoted to the Tampa Bay Lightning, every once in a while we have to step back and take a large look at the hockey world and how actions affect e...
It was fitting that the final horn sounded on the Tampa Bay Lightning’s 6-2 victory over the Seattle Kraken with the Nick Paul line generating shots on the Seattle net. While the trio of Nick Paul, Corey Perry, and Oliver Bjorkstrand didn’t score in the win, they were a key part of a defensive effort that forced a lot of turnovers, and kept the puck in the Seattle zone for most of the night.
That line finished with an 11-0 edge in shot attempts, 6-0 edge in scoring chances, and 4-0 edge i...