Even with a slight bump in salary cap space and no pending restricted free agents that will need huge raises, it’s going to be another tough offseason for Tampa Bay Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois. The biggest piece of the 2024 puzzle is also the one that he has to figure out first – Steven Stamkos. The Lightning’s on-ice captain and franchise icon is set to hit unrestricted free agency… Source ..read more

One of the weirdly anticipated steps of the offseason for any team that has exited the playoff race is the releasing of the injury report. After months of vague descriptions of injuries and timelines, teams usually announce exactly was ailing their players. That “lower-body” injury that had a third-line center on a day-to-day basis for a month-and-a-half, or yeah, he was playing without a left… Source ..read more

Alright. We’ve officially hit the offseason for the Tampa Bay Lightning. Sadly, it came in April instead of June, and there are way too many teams still playing, but that’s the world we’re in. For the second straight summer, the players are going to get plenty of rest. The good news is that we can stop paying for a Sling subscription for the next few months and everyone has more time to read a… Source ..read more

Despite an overturned goal and a disallowed goal, the Tampa Bay Lightning entered the third period of Game Five down by just a goal. Unfortunately, they couldn’t find the equalizer and the Florida Panthers scored twice with Andrei Vasilevskiy in the net and then added two more-empty netters to win 6-1 and eliminate the Lightning from the playoffs. Victor Hedman had the lone goal that counted… Source ..read more

The Syracuse Crunch came close to pulling off the comeback in Game One against the Rochester Americans before falling, 3-2. On Sunday they pulled off the comeback as Gabriel Fortier tipped home a shot from Declan Carlile for a 4-3 victory in overtime. Brandon Halverson made 24 saves on 27 shots to pick up his first career AHL playoff win. Like they did in Game One, the Crunch went down early… Source ..read more

Morning After Thoughts will be an ongoing series throughout the playoffs where I can ramble on about the most recent Lightning playoff game. Sometimes it will be structured. Sometimes it will just be a stream of consciousness. Hopefully, I’ll be able to capture what many Lightning fans are thinking, but also provide some perspective after having time to adjust back to normal after a game… Source ..read more

Midway through the second period, I texted a friend of mine who was at Game Four and simply asked him, “How loud was the building when Sergy was introduced?”. His reply, “So loud you couldn’t hear Vasy being announced.” So it was. In a bit of an emotional lift for the Tampa Bay Lightning, Mikhail Sergachev started Game Four against the Florida Panthers just 80 days after suffering two broken… Source ..read more

Buoyed by the return of Mikhail Sergachev and powered by two goals from their captain, the Tampa Bay Lightning staved off elimination with a 6-3 victory over the Florida Panthers in Game 4. Sergachev, in his first game since February 7th, had an assist and a hit in 17:03 of ice time. Along with Stamkos, Brandon Hagel had two goals, while Nick Paul and Brayden Point also found the back of the net. Source ..read more

In a match-up of two goaltenders making their AHL playoffs debut, it was Rochester’s Devon Levi that won the battle. The highly-touted Buffalo Sabres prospect stopped 35 of 37 shots, including 13-of-14 in the third period, as the Americans held off the Crunch, 3-2, to win the first game in the best-of-five series. On the other side, Brandon Halverson rebounded from a shaky start to stop 23 of 26. Source ..read more

Game #4 – Florida Panthers at Tampa Bay Lightning Time: 5:00 PM EST Location: Amalie Arena Broadcast/Streaming: BSSUN, BSFL, MAX, TBS, TRU TV Opponent’s Site: Litter Box Cats Well, give the Tampa Bay Lightning credit – they’ve really simplified what they need to focus on tonight. As Al Davis would say, “Just win, baby”. How will they win? Their best bet is to… Source ..read more