tampabaylightning Page 3 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
Are The Lightning So Good That They Didn't Need To Get Better?
Every Cup winner since 2010 has made a deadline (or deadlineish) trade. The Lightning stood pat. So either Tampa Bay is going to regret not trying to make the NHL’s best team just a little better, or they’re going to buck some recent history. But, then again, no Cup winner, no team, since 2010 or ev...
Nikita Kucherov's Season Is Unlike Any We've Seen In A Long Time
Right now it feels impossible to stop Tampa Bay Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov. In the team’s 2-1 win over the Sabres on Thursday night, Kucherov scored the lone goal for his team, finishing a 2-on-1 for his 100th point of the season, and notched the clincher in the shootout. Kucherov had 85 point...
Andrei Vasilevskiy Was Bug-Eyed With Disbelief At His Own Save
It was maybe not a game you’d have expected much excitement from. The Lightning lead the entire rest of the NHL, by a healthy margin, and haven’t lost in regulation since November. The Flyers, on the other hand, are scraping the bottom of the East and have already canned their coach and GM. But a mi...
The Difference In The East Could Be Andrei Vasilevskiy
In a just world, the Lightning and Maple Leafs would meet in the Eastern Conference final. But it is not a just world, and because the two clear best teams in the East also happen to be the two best teams in the Atlantic Division, the NHL’s playoff format puts the two on track for a second-round sho...
Steve Yzerman Is Leaving Tampa And Hell Yeah Motherfucker He Is Definitely Coming To Detroit
Mission accomplished! Mark it the hell down. Steve Yzerman is finally coming back home to Detroit to save the godforsaken Red Wings. At least, that’s the only logical conclusion one can draw from today’s news:...
The Capitals Rained Fire On The Lightning<em></em>
It was a dream start for the Washington Capitals tonight—or for any team on the road in a Game 7. Just a minute into the deciding match-up of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Lightning, the Caps’ all-time best player dramatically announced his importance. On a cross-ice pass from Tom Wilson...
Braydon Coburn Made The Mistake Of Trying To Fight Tom Wilson<em></em>
A small scrap in the first period of the Capitals-Lightning Game 7 sent Tampa’s Braydon Coburn and Washington’s Tom Wilson to the box for two minutes each. When that time was up, Wilson wanted to escalate the violence, and Coburn foolishly decided to try and stand his ground in an old-fashioned hoc...
The Capitals Were Finally Flawless
It wasn’t Andrei Vasilevsky’s fault, but it’s hard to beat perfection. The Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender stopped 31 of 33 Capitals shots tonight in Washington’s 3-0 win over the Bolts in Game 6. Several of those saves were spectacular—though unsurprising for anyone who had seen Vasilevsky’s previou...
The Lightning Power Play Is A Thing To Behold
The numbers are intimidating. The Tampa Bay Lightning had the league’s third best power play during the regular season, at 23.9 percent. They have the best power play of any team left alive, at 30.8 percent. They are 6-of-14 on the power play against the Capitals. They have scored a power-play goal ...
The Lightning Scored Three Beautiful Goals And The Capitals Only Scored Two
It might seem a bit tedious to go through all the goals in the Lightning’s 4-2 Game 4 win over the Capitals on Thursday night, which evened the Eastern Conference Finals at two games apiece. But bear with me—in the tensest game of the series so far, every scoring play (minus the empty netter with tw...
It Was Never Going To Be Easy For The Capitals
The Washington Capitals came crashing back down to earth tonight in a 4-2 loss to the Lightning in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals, shrinking the series lead of these briefly unbeatable-looking Caps down to 2-1....
The Capitals Look Unbeatable And I Don't Know What's Happening
I’m sorry, what? The Caps spanked the Lightning last night. That’s two consecutive spankings! What is going on here? It would be a little too psychologically neat to posit that all the Ovechkin-era Capitals ever needed was to be underdogs, finally without pressure. Or that once they were finally abl...
It Has Come To This: Coach Orders Brad Marchand To Stop Licking Opponents
A request from the league didn’t do the trick. A sternly worded letter has been sent; an NHL bigwig also delivered the message to the player and his team’s manager. Now we are here: Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy ordering his player to stop licking the faces of his opponents before the start of today’s ...
Tuukka Rask Throws Hands At Crease Intruder, Almost Sparks Goalie Brawl
The Lightning and Bruins are currently previewing tonight what could be a very good playoff series next month, and going by this game, tempers will be hot if these teams meet again....
Victor Hedman Has A Weird Pregame Ritual
Before every game for most of his career, Tampa defenseman Victor Hedman plays the knife game, aka five-finger fillet, aka mumblety-peg, aka stabscotch, rapidly stabbing the blade of his stick between the spread fingers of Lightning assistant equipment manager Rob Kennedy. While he reportedly isn’t ...
Please Get Erik Karlsson Out Of Ottawa
The Ottawa Senators were a lost cause long before last night, but I think this play from Thursday was the official end, in which Victor Hedman faces only the mildest of resistance as he skates to the net for a goal that would give his Lightning a lead they’d never relinquish. It pretty well summed u...
It's The Connor McDavid Show
It’s not yet officially a lost season for the Oilers, sexy preseason Cup picks who find themselves far out of a playoff spot, but it’s been a disaster so far. Meanwhile the Lightning have been the only consistently great team this year in a league packed with mediocrity. So what happened on Monday w...
Dan Girardi Leaves Game After Taking A Slap Shot To The Head
Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Dan Girardi suffered a brutal injury in the second period of the team’s 5-2 win against the Red Wings Sunday night. As Detroit’s Martin Frk fired a one-timer from the faceoff circle, Girardi went down on one knee to try and block it from close range. Frk’s shot hit G...
Nikita Kucherov And Steven Stamkos Have Beautiful Chemistry<em></em>
Tampa Bay Lightning scorers Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos have only been teammates since 2013, but at the end of the second period tonight against Montreal, the pair showed off the communication skills of a longtime married couple. As the Lightning pushed the puck down deep in the Canadiens’ zo...
The Golden Knights Are The Best Story In Hockey
If you thought a December game between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Vegas Golden Knights would end up pitting two of the NHL’s best teams, and would be one of the most exciting games of the season, you’re a fucking liar, get off my website, we don’t like liars here. If you’re as baffled by Vegas’...