The Tampa Bay Lightning have had a very solid and positive season making the finals and continuing their playoff streak, making the 24-25 season the Lightning’s 8th year in a row attending the playoffs. Fans hope that the Lightning make it farther than the first round this year and win another Stanley Cup similar to the 2021 and 2022 season.
The Lightning have 2 games left this April to finish off the season before the playoffs, versing the Panthers on the 15th, and Rangers on the 17th. Fans around Tampa are hoping for a strong finish to the regular season.
Tampa Bay has shown some clear improvement this season specifically in their defensive and offensive zone presence. They are attempting to show the world that they can make a recurring presence in the finals.
On March 27th, the Lightning had their best game of the season against the Utah Hockey Club, defeating Utah with a final score of 8-0. Utah had 25 shots on goal with the Lightning goalies Andrei Vasilevskiy and Jonas Johansson blocking 23 of them. Center Brayden Point scored his 300th career goal in the 3rd period. Right wing Oliver Bjorkstrand scored the most points in the game, scoring two of the eight points against Utah. The Lightning displayed a very strong defense and powerful offense throughout the game to seize the win.
Another impressive game of the season was on March 9th against the Philadelphia flyers. Tampa Bay beat the Flyers with a final score of 7-0. The Lightning and flyers have a regular season score of 2-1. The Lightning were fouled 10 times by the Flyers but still prevailed and took home the victory. A performance worth highlighting done by Darren Raddysh who had an all-time career high of five assists, setting the team record as a defenseman. A strong offensive performance was done by Victor Hedman who scored the most goals for the Lightning. This game scored two goals and had one assist. Two new players made their Tampa Bay debut in this game with Anthony Duclair being traded from the San Jose Sharks and Matt Dumba coming from the Arizona Coytes, Duclair had one goal, and one assist and Matt Dumba had two hits and a block shot.
On Sunday April 13th the Lightning played the Sabers at Amalie Arena for the last time in the regular season, breaking the losing streak and winning by three points with a score of 7-4. Tampa had a very strong 2nd period scoring 4 points against Buffalo. A great performance by Lightning goalie James Reimer who blocked 24 shots. Nikita Kucherov and Jake Guentzel had a combined scoring of four points both scoring two points each, making up more than half of the Lightnings scored points. Kucherov also had an assist along with his two goals. This win against the Sabers allowed Tampa to gain a spot in the Atlantic Division.
As their most recent game on the 15th, Tampa had a very strong victory against their rival, the Florida Panthers. They won by four points with a final score of 5-1. The Lightning had a strong start scoring three points in the 1st period. Center Brayden Point had a great performance against Florida, scoring one goal and having two assists. Tampa’s fantastic performance is confirmed through great defense as the Panthers had 37 hits while the Lightning only had 26. The Lightnings offense was also very focused against the Panthers, they had an aggressive drive to win the game having 31 shots on goal opposed to the Panthers 21.
Right Wing Oliver Bjorkstrand suffered a season ending lower body injury during the overtime loss against the Red Wings on April 11th. Bjorkstrand will most likely be unable to play during the opening few games of the playoffs due to his injury. Bjorkstrand has only been playing with Tampa for 18 games, scoring a total of nine points including assists.
Defenseman Darren Raddysh has also sustained an injury, however unlike Bjorkstrands injury Raddysh has kept his injury undisclosed. Meaning the severity of the injury is unknown and it is unclear how long Raddysh may be out for. Fans hope for a strong recovery and for Raddysh to return to the ice before the start of the playoffs.
The Lightning have just recently made an addition to their roster right before the regular season finale against the New York Rangers on April 17th. Tampa made a decision to recall forward Cam Atkinson from the Syracuse Crunch. His last game with the Lightning was on March 13th against the Philadelphia Flyers. Atkinson has appeared in 38 Lightning games this season, he has scored four goals and up nine points. Hoping to make it far this year Tampa brought him back to add more power to their team for the playoffs and for the final game of the regular season.
Currently, the Lightning are giving their all to finish out the rest of the regular season strong. They are also preparing and getting ready for the playoffs, hoping to win another Stanley Cup. As of right now, the Lighting are 2nd in the Atlantic Division, four points behind the Toronto Maple Leafs. Many Lightning fans are hopeful that this season will end successfully. Sophomore hockey player Evan Rottenberger says, “I think the Lighting will get far in the playoffs because we have great depth for players and great top end scoring and good defense”.
The Lightning have one more week of the regular season until they get a one week break until the playoffs. As of right now the Lightning are projected to kick off the playoffs against the Florida Panthers, this will be a close game as the Panthers are very similar in skill to the Lightning. The Lightning will need to show strong determination and courage with good offensive and defensive play to defeat the Panthers and begin the playoffs successfully. Fans around Tampa are hoping for a successful playoff season and for a potential victory, taking home the Stanley Cup once again.
