Tampa Bay Lightning

Team History: The Tampa Bay Lightning have only won one Stanley Cup Title in franchise history. It was against the Calgary Flames in seven games. The Tampa Bay Lightning won the Presidents’ Trophy during the 2018-2019 season, but they were swept in four games against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The Team Today: This season, Tampa Bay is in the midst of a revenge tour. The Lightning defeated the New York Islanders in the Eastern Conference Finals 4-2. This is the first time since 2015 they have been to the Stanley Cup Finals. Tampa Bay played against the Chicago Blackhawks and lost to them in six games.

The Tampa Bay Lightning are currently in the Stanley Cup Finals against the Dallas Stars. The series is currently tied at one game a piece. Game 3 of this series will be on Wednesday night. The last possible day for the Stanley Cup Finals to be played is on Wednesday September 30th.

During the regular season, Tampa Bay finished in second place in the Atlantic Division with a 43-21-6 record with 92 points. They finished eight points behind the Presidents’ Trophy winning Boston Bruins (44-14-12 record with 100 points) and 11 points ahead of the Toronto Maple Leafs (36-25-9 record with 81 points) in the Atlantic Division Standings.

Team Management/Players/Coaches: The current owner of the Tampa Bay Lightning is Jeffrey Vinik, while their current general manager is Julien BriseBois. Jon Cooper is the current head coach for Tampa Bay and he has been the head coach since the 2013-2014 season.

Some of the forwards on this roster are: Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, Ondrej Palat, Alex Killorn, Cedric Paquette, Anthony Cirelli, Yanni Gourde, Tyler Johnson, Patrick Maroon, and Blake Coleman.

Some of the key defenseman on this roster are: Victor Hedman, Ryan McDonagh, Zach Bogosian, Erik Cernak, Braydon Coburn, Mikhail Sergachev, Luke Schenn, and Kevin Shattenkirk.

The goalies on this roster are: Andrei Vasilevskiy and Curtis McElhinney.

Notable Players’ Stats: Kucherov scored 33 goals and recorded 52 assists, and his plus/minus was 26. He played in 68 games this past season, and he is one of the best goal scorers in the NHL because he’s electric on the ice and does things well. Aside from this, he’s also one of the most underrated passers in the League right now, allowing him to win one Hart Trophy in his career before in 2019.

Stamkos scored 29 goals and recorded 47 assists and his plus/minus was 14 in 57 games this past season. He was the number one overall pick in 2009, and while he is injury prone, he’s dominant when healthy.

Point scored 25 goals and recorded 39 assists and his plus/minus was 28 in 66 games this past season. He is becoming a superstar in the NHL almost immediately after being drafted, and he can set up teammate and score clutch goals though.

Hedman scored 11 goals and recorded 44 assists and his plus/minus was 27 in 66 games this past season. He is one of the best defenseman in the NHL with his shot from the top of the point.

Vasilevskiy played in 52 games and started in all 52 of them. His record was 35-14-3 with a .917 save percentage and a 2.56 GAA, along with three shutouts. He is one of the most athletic goalies in the NHL and can be dominant and take over a game with his athleticism. Vasilevskiy has been a Vezina Trophy finalist a couple of times. Some people believe he is the best goalie in the NHL and I think this is the case as well.