Tampa Bay Lightning 2014-15: A Month-by-Month Look at the Upcoming Schedule

Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

December

This month is the first of the two longest in the 2014-15 season (both December and March have 15 games) and presents the first of four incredibly difficult months for the Lightning.

A five-game road trip, starting on Dec. 13 and ending on Dec. 20, sees the Bolts facing several teams in a row that gave them trouble last year – including the Pittsburgh Penguins for the first time.  Tampa Bay started putting together something against the Pens late last season, so lets hope that tradition continues in 2014-15.

If the Bolts are up near the top of the standings coming into December, then it’s imperative that they have success against proven thorns in their sides:  the Pens, the Washington Capitals, the Devils, and the Isles (who sometimes stump the Bolts when it should be easier).  Tampa Bay faces the Pens twice in December (once on the road and once at home), along with the Caps, and it faces the Sabres three-times, so some possible easy points are there for the taking, if the Bolts can navigate the hard games just as well.

To me, December is a setup month.  The Bolts need to set themselves up with good positioning before the Christmas break so that when they reach mid-to-late January (a month the Lightning struggled through last season) they are well positioned for the ridiculously hard two-month homestretch that is February and March.

Really there are no easy months in the NHL but December sets up all that you hope will come after.  So the Bolts got to string together those wins/points early and often before 2015.

Home/Away Breakdowns:  7/8; Total Games:  15

Toughest Matchups:  Pittsburgh Penguins, Columbus Blue Jackets, New Jersey Devils, Washington Capitals, New York Islanders

Key Facts:  two road trips (one two-game and one five-game); two back-to-backs; 30 possible points

Month Difficulty:  Hard