Feb 01
Sun
12:00am
Raymond James Stadium
Tampa, FL
NHL Stadium Series - Boston Bruins at Tampa Bay Lightning
Sold Out
Conference: Eastern
Division: Atlantic
Stadium: Amalie Arena (capacity 19,092-21,500)
Head Coach: Jon Cooper (2013-present)
Starting Goaltender: Jonas Johansson
Star Players: Nikita Kucherov (RW), Brayden Point (C), Victor Hedman (D), Steve Stamkos (D)
2022-23 Regular Season: 46-30-6 (6th in Eastern Conference)
2023 Playoffs: Eastern Conference Quarterfinals (defeated 4-2 by the Toronto Maple Leafs)
Legendary Former Players: Brad Richards (C), Vincent Lecavallier (C), Martin St. Louis (RW)
Stanley Cups (NHL Championships): 3 - 2004, 2020, 2021
When it was announced to the hockey world that a team called the Tampa Bay Lightning joined the NHL in 1992, the news was met with a mixture of confusion and mild amusement. Where was this place called Tampa Bay? Why was their new hockey team’s name singular instead of plural (i.e. why not the admittedly strange-sounding “the Lightnings” to match all other hockey teams at the time?)? How could hockey be played in a place where people are going to the beach outside? And when the Lightning started to play games, would anyone actually bother to turn up? The Lightning actually started fairly well for an expansion franchise, chalking up a 23-54-7 record that was nowhere near the playoffs, but far better than their 1992 expansion brothers, the hapless Ottawa Senators. Curious local crowds filled the small 11,000-seat Expo Hall to see this unusual sport played with sticks on ice. The team moved house for their sophomore season to a former baseball stadium that was soon christened “The Thunderdome” in a blatant attempt to link it to the successful Tina Turner and Mel Gibson film. The Lightning moved again, in 1996, to the Ice Palace (now the Amalie Arena), which is still the team’s home to this day. No matter where the Lightning played, however, it did not seem to matter, as the team kept losing, making the playoffs just once in their first ten seasons, and hemorrhaging money to the point that the franchise’s viability came into serious question. The turn of the millennium, however, saw the Lightning acquire some talented young offensive players in Brad Richards, Vincent Lecavallier, and Martin St. Louis. The team won their first-ever playoff series over the Washington Capitals in 2003 and went into the following season on a wave of confidence, finishing top of their division in the regular season, then breezing through the first two rounds of the playoffs in five against the New York Islanders and four against the Montreal Canadiens. The Philadelphia Flyers provided a stiffer test, but the Lightning rose to the challenge, shocking the hockey world with a hard-fought seven-game series win. The team from Tampa faced the Calgary Flames in the Stanley Cup Finals with the two teams trading games (the Lightning won Game Six in double overtime to level the series 3-3) until Game Seven, where the Lightning held on to a 2-1 to bring the Cup to Florida for the very first time. They would get a chance at a second in the 2015 Finals after a grueling run of 20 games in three series en route, but fell in six to the Chicago Blackhawks. Glory finally returned in 2020 when the Lightning defeated the Dallas Stars to double the franchise’s Cup tally, then dashed hopes in Canada of the Stanley Cup returning north of the border for the first time since 1993 when they beat the Montreal Canadiens in five games. The Lightning then lost the 2022 Finals to the Colorado Avalanche. With the bevy of talented players who brought them their recent success still mostly with the team, the Lightning are one of the league’s most exciting teams right now and look set to continue to be top contenders in upcoming years.
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