On Friday, the Tampa Bay Lightning did something they haven’t done for almost an entire month – had a long, almost fully attended practice. Due to the compressed nature of the schedule at the end of the season, the deluge of injuries both major and minor, and a coach that favors rest for his veterans over ice time, the Lightning really haven’t had a full fledged practice session since shortly after the Olympic Break.
The most encouraging part of the day was that everybody was on the ice. ...
With the final regular season games concluding late Thursday night (and having a bearing on the final Western Conference seedings) the NHL’s first round schedule took a little while to complete. In the wee early hours of Friday morning, it finally dropped. Along with the other fourteen teams left competing, the Tampa Bay Lightning and Montreal Canadiens finally learned exactly when they’ll be competing against each other over the next two weeks.
For those of you in the Tampa area who feel...
After the Buffalo Sabres clinched the Atlantic Division on Monday night, the only thing left to determine was where the first-round series between the Montreal Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lightning would start. With Montreal’s loss on Tuesday night in Philadelphia, Tampa Bay secured the second seed in the division, and gets to play the opening two games, and Game 7 if it reaches that point, at Benchmark International Arena in Tampa, Florida.
The NHL released the full schedule for the series, ...
Despite the match-ups not being entirely set as the Western Conference is coming down to their final game for seedings, the NHL has released the dates (but not all of the times) for the opening games of the first-round playoff series.
The 2026 #StanleyCup Playoffs begin Saturday!
The one guarantee this year: There will be a new champion.
Tune in on /ESPN, /NHL_On_TNT, /Sportsnet and /TVASports. Full schedule to be announced after all First Round matchups are set later tonight.
Details...
The Rangers won their final game, moved to fourth in draft lottery odds, and gave us one last reminder of why this year was so hard to watch.
We could spend the next 1,000 words breaking down the action of the Tampa Bay Lightning’s 4-2 loss to the New York Rangers in the final game of the regular season. However, nothing structurally or strategically from tonight’s defeat will carry forward into the playoffs. Jake Guentzel, Brayden Point, Anthony Cirelli, J.J. Moser, Ryan McDonagh, and Andrei Vasilevskiy were high-priced fans for the night. The loss didn’t hurt the Lightning and the win didn’t help the Rangers. So, it was meaningles...
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Game Eighty-Two : New York Rangers (33-39-9) at Tampa Bay Lightning (50-25-6)
Time: 7:00 PM EST
Location: Benchmark International Arena, Tampa – The site of Wayne Gretzky’s final All-Star Game (he had a goal and an assist). Question – who was the Lightning’s All-Star that season?
TV/Stream/Radio: The Spot, MSG, TVAS2, ESPN+, 102.5 FM, Lightning App
Odds: Lightning -115
Know the Opponents: Blue Shirt Banter
Look at that. We’ve made it to the end of the season. It t...
With the Montreal Canadiens losing (in regulation) their final game of the regular season, the Tampa Bay Lightning have secured home ice in their first-round match-up that starts this weekend. Is that a good thing? After all, this is a team that is 1-7 at home during their last three playoff series. In case you were wondering, yes, they lost all three of those series.
What’s been even more frustrating is that the Lightning had been very, very good at home during the regular season. Over t...
The NHL's unrestricted free agent market this summer will be.. well, pretty restricted . With so many of the big-name extensions being signed by notable pending UFAs already this season, that leaves only a couple of high-end names to have the market all to themselves. At forward, it's Alex Tuch of the Buffalo Sabres. And on defense, it's all coming up Darren Raddysh. The Tampa Bay Lightning 's surprising breakout 30-year-old had a year that no one would have dreamed of coming into the se...
It took 81 games to find an opponent this year, but after the Tampa Bay Lightning’s overtime win against the Detroit Red Wings, and the Buffalo Sabres’ regulation win against the Chicago Blackhawks, the playoff match-ups are set. Well, at least for the Lightning. Since Buffalo won in regulation, they hold the tiebreaker over Tampa Bay and clinched the Atlantic Division. So that means the Lightning and Montreal Canadiens will face-off in the playoffs for the fifth time in history.
While th...
It’s the next to last game of the season and that can mean only one thing – haiku recap time.
Like moss clings to stone
So do hopes for a title
Bolts in overtime win
The Goals
David Perron [13] (JT Compher, Ben Chiarot) 1-0 Red Wings
Conor Geekie [1] (Oliver Bjorkstrand) 1-1
Erik Cernak [3] (Ryan McDonagh, Zemgus Girgensons) 2-1 Lightning
Jake Guentzel [38] (Nikita Kucherov, J.J. Moser) 3-1 Lightning
Marco Ka...
Well, this sucks.
The margins in this league are tight. I wrote a post over the weekend fantasizing over the idea that the Islanders could ride their late-season New Coach Bump to a win over Ottawa. Had that happened, and had the Red Wings held on to one of their many one-goal leads over the Devils, we’d be in business right now. Ottawa lost to New Jersey last night, so had the hockey gods felt differently, we could be looking at a two-point gap, with a game in a hand, and some control ov...
Game Eighty-One: Detroit Red Wings (41-30-9) at Tampa Bay Lightning (49-25-6)
Time: 7:00 PM EST
Location: Benchmark International Arena, Tampa – Where the arena DJ once played “Don’t Stop Believing” after the Lightning beat the Red Wings in a playoff game and some folks got really mad about it.
TV/Stream/Radio: The Spot, FDSNDET, ESPN+, 102.5 FM, Lightning App
Odds: Lightning -200
Know the Opponents: Winging it in Motown
For the first time in what seems like forev...
On March 29th in 2014, Tampa Bay Lightning sniper Steven Stamkos fired a pass past defenseman Michael Kostka which deflected off the boards and ended up in his own empty net during a delayed penalty, putting the Buffalo Sabres up 3-2 midway through the third period.
Stamkos' own goal was credited to Cory Conacher, the Sabres skater whistled for hooking prompting Ben Bishop to abandon
In a game that resembled a lot of their recent efforts, the Tampa Bay Lightning finally found a way to pick up a win as Emil Lilleberg put home a rebound with 95 seconds left in the game to give the Lightning a 2-1 lead that they managed to hold. Andrei Vasilevskiy picked up another win as he stopped 19-fo-20 shots. Brandon Hagel returned to action and picked up his 36th goal of the season.
Prior to the game, it was announced that Zemgus Girgensons and Darren Raddysh would miss the game w...
Game Eighty: Tampa Bay Lightning (48-25-6) at Boston Bruins (43-26-10)
Time: 12:30 PM
Location: TD Garden, Boston – Where, in 1919, a 2.3 million gallon flood of molasses raced down the streets of the North End neighborhood at approximately 35 MPH.
TV/Stream/Radio: ABC, SNW, Lightning App
Odds: Lightning
Know the Opponents: Stanley Cup of Chowder
If there is one thing we know about this Tampa Bay Lightning team is that they don’t lack in confidence. So, we shouldn...
Welcome to this season’s very last Public Preview®, the combination preview/Public Skate you’ve come to know and love! Let’s get started with today’s basics: Tampa comes into this game with 102 points, good for third place in the Atlantic Division. Like the Bruins, they have three games left, but find themselves two points behind Montreal […]
The Montreal Canadiens played the absolute biggest remaining game on their schedule Thursday night, hosting the Tampa Bay Lightning with a chance to pass them for second place in the Atlantic Division. It had every bit of intensity you would expect from a playoff game, and with good reason, as the odds that these teams will meet in the first round seem to strengthen by the game. The Habs controlled the play well through three periods, and though it was a very tight margin of victory, they foun...
Welcome to Friday, folks! The Bruins won’t be back in action until Saturday afternoon, when they’ll host the Tampa Bay Lightning at TD Garden at 12:30 PM. That will be a nationally televised game on ABC, so get excited or prepare your mute button accordingly. The big Bruins-related news from yesterday was the practice debut […]
Despite a parade to the penalty box for the first forty minutes of the night, the Tampa Bay Lightning tied the game late against the Montreal Canadiens. An unfortunate turnover 47 seconds after the game-tying goal turned into the difference as Jaroslav Slafkovsky scored with 1:04 left on the clock to give the home team the 2-1 victory.
Declan Carlile and Anthony Cirelli returned to the line-up as the Lightning had to kill off seven short-handed chances while racking up 71 penalty minutes....
Game 79: Montreal Canadiens vs. Tampa Bay Lightning
Start time: 7:00 PM EDT / 4:00 PM PDT In the Canadiens region: TSN2 (English), RDS (French) In the Lightning region: The Spot Streaming: ESPN+, RDS, TSN+
Just before the Olympics we looked at the remaining schedules for the Atlantic Division teams and highlighted just how compressed the final third of the season was going to be for the Tampa Bay Lightning. Tonight will be their 14th contest in the past 24 days, and they’ll fin...
Game Seventy-Nine: Tampa Bay Lightning (48-24-6) at Montreal Canadiens (46-22-10)
Time: 7:00 PM EST
Location: Centre Bell, The City of a Hundred Steeples
TV/Stream/Radio: The Spot, ESPN+, TSN2, RDS, 102.5 FM, Lightning App
Odds: Lightning -115
Know the Opponents: Eyes on the Prize
The road trip rolls on as the Tampa Bay Lightning look to snap a two-game losing streak. It should be another high-energy building as the Lightning and the Montreal Canadiens still have ...
Game 79: Montreal Canadiens vs. Tampa Bay Lightning
Start time: 7:00 PM EDT / 4:00 PM PDT In the Canadiens region: TSN2 (English), RDS (French) In the Lightning region: The Spot Streaming: ESPN+, RDS, TSN+
The Montreal Canadiens haven’t been putting up convincing results recently, with their last two wins coming via shootout versus some teams not in the playoff chase. Being unable to get engaged for teams not in the post-season battle has been an issue for the club in an otherwise s...
Tuesday night’s Eastern Conference results were not great for the Islanders as the Ottawa Senators beat the Atlantic-leading Tampa Bay Lightning (with a five-goal third period!) in regulation and the Red Wings and Blue Jackets had a three-point game, with Detroit falling via shootout. But at least we know where everyone stands with four games […]