Tampa Bay Lightning: A Season In Review

For a team that had finished as the runner-up to the Stanley Cup Champions last season, the Tampa Bay Lightning made a strong push to return to the final round, but ultimately came up short in a pivotal Game 7.

After a shortened offseason from their extended postseason run to the 2015 Stanley Cup Final, the Tampa Bay Lightning began this season with high expectations. But, after limping from the start of the new campaign, including a mediocre October and November, going 11-11-3 in that span, the team finally picked up the pace in January.

From there, the Lightning found themselves in a playoff spot after going 19-6-0 in the first two months of the new year and an average March and early April.

It was an interesting season, to say the least, and there were many ups and downs and memorable moments to go along with everything leading to last night’s Game 7 loss.

As the sun sets on this incredible run, let’s take a look back at the season that was in 2015-16.

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The summer of 2015 was rather uneventful in terms of signing free agents during the offseason, but Lightning General Manager Steve Yzerman didn’t have to do much in re-tooling the roster. He kept last year’s group mainly in tact, except for signing right wing Erik Condra from the Ottawa Senators to a three year contract, and stated the team would not bring back veteran Brenden Morrow.

Prior to the start of the free agency period, Yzerman focused on the draft and building up the farm system. The Lightning selected Mitchell Stephens (33rd overall) with its first pick in the 2015 NHL Draft in the second round after trading out of the first round. From there, he would make eight more picks, including another one in the second round and two in third, fourth, and sixth rounds.

Once the draft and free agency had ended, it then became a waiting game for the Lightning, as the short summer didn’t allow much time for rest and reflection. After the end of Game 6 of the Cup Final, the team had exactly 95 days to when training camp started. And it’s particularly tough when you’re on the losing end of things to put it behind you and focus on the upcoming season.

Training camp, which began on September 17 at the Brandon Ice Sports Forum, saw Jonathan Drouin back on the ice after a turbulent playoffs, when he spent most of the time watching from the press box after playing in 70 games in the regular season. The Lightning also welcomed many new faces during the two-week camp, including the 2015 second round pick in Stephens and highly touted defenseman Anthony DeAngelo, drafted in 2014 from the Sarnia Sting of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL).

I attended a few of the practices in Brandon and was impressed by all of the talent Yzerman and his scouts had acquired. Many of these prospects will have a part in the bright future of this organization and it’ll be interesting to see who makes the most strides during their development period.

Before the regular season began on October 8th, the Lightning had a few interesting preseason games, including one in Johnstown, Pa., where they played the Pittsburgh Penguins in the annual Kraft Hockeyville Game at the Cambria County War Memorial Arena. By virtue of winning the contest, that arena received a total makeover, including $150,000 in upgrades and the opportunity to host an NHL preseason game.

Fortunately for the home fans, the Penguins won that game 4-2 to welcome in the new upgrades and celebrate. But, preseason games don’t count and did not cost the Lightning anything, expect maybe some pride.

After seven games in the tune up season, the Lightning finished with a 3-3-1 record and were ready to start the highly anticipated first game of the season.

As mentioned before, the regular season began on October 8th at Amalie Arena against the Philadelphia Flyers, who missed the postseason in 2015. The 2014-15 Eastern Conference Champions banner was unveiled with loud cheers from the crowd. It was not the banner they had hoped to raise, but nonetheless, it was a reminder of the incredible run the team had not too long before opening night.

The first game against the Flyers marked Condra’s first regular season game with the team, but the rest of the roster looked the same as it did after the Cup run. Game 1 was an eventful one and the Lightning faithful were excited to see the team back in action. This game also featured the first ever three on three overtime period and defenseman Jason Garrison became the first player to score in the new overtime period. Drouin had a solid first game with two assists on the night.

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Those at the arena celebrated the 3-2 overtime victory and the Lightning began the new season with a bang.

They would follow up with two consecutive victories on the road in Buffalo and Boston before dropping their first game of the season to the Red Wings in Detroit, 3-1. Following those first four games and going 3-1-0, the Lightning began to show signs of the short offseason and inconsistent play found its way onto the ice for most of October and November. After a 2-1 home victory over the Buffalo Sabres on October 17th, the team went 1-3-2 over their next six games and closed out the month with a 5-5-2 record.

The month of November would bring more of the same inconsistent play, including frustrating losses to the Minnesota Wild, Florida Panthers, and New York Islanders, among others. Through 2 months and 25 games of play, the Lightning had a 11-11-3 record with 25 points and sat at 6th in the Atlantic Division and 11th in the Eastern Conference. They were not in the position many expected them to be in to that point.

There was much speculation from the fans and some analysts that the Lightning still hadn’t “hit their stride” and was still recovering from the long postseason run in the previous season. Fortunately for Tampa Bay, goaltender Ben Bishop‘s play through November 30th kept the team from falling too far down in the standings. The main issue to that point was the inconsistency in scoring, as the team that lead the NHL in goals the previous year had already been shutout four times.

The Anaheim Ducks, which finished as the runner up in the Western Conference, was having similar problems and had an even worse record. But, there would be no sympathy for their woes from the rest of the league.

Injuries also had a factor in their uncharacteristic play and the Lightning were without top players in Tyler Johnson, Drouin, and Ondrej Palat for points during that frustrating span. In a more positive light, those injuries allowed several players from the AHL, like Joel Vermin and Jonathan Marchessault, to play and gain some added experience in the NHL.

As 2015 came to a close, the month of December was a bit better for the Lightning, but they still hadn’t been able to string together enough wins for a long streak to boost them up in the standings. At this point, many fans had already given up on the team and some picked them to miss the playoffs entirely. When January 1st rolled around, the Lightning had an 18-16-4 record with 40 points and still sat at 6th in the division and 11th in the conference.

The idea of missing the playoffs was certainly a real possibility, but they were also one hot streak away from climbing back into the thick of things.

The Lightning opened the new year with an exciting 3-2 shootout victory at home over the Wild and the vibe around the fan base was positive. But, after a lackluster 3-1 loss to the Calgary Flames on the opening game of their 4-game road trip out West, panic ensued after many people thought the win over the Wild on January 2nd would’ve been a turning point in the season.

There was negativity, anger, and disgust after that deflating loss to a Calgary team with inferior goaltending, but had a winning record at home. All that would change, though, three days later in Edmonton.

Fighting for the chance to get a winning streak going, the Lightning entered the third period down 2-0 to the Edmonton Oilers during a game on January 8th at Rexall Place. The team was in full desperation mode and was looking to erase their bad start on this four game swing through Western Canada and Colorado. Nikita Kucherov started the furious comeback with a goal at 3:01 of the third period to bring the Lightning within one. Around 11 minutes later, defenseman Victor Hedman joined the rush, driving the play across the opposing blue line and threw a pass over to Palat, which was incidentally tipped into the net by Oilers winger Taylor Hall.

The game was tied and looked poised to go into three on three overtime. But, the Lightning made sure that didn’t happen.

Late in the third, captain Steven Stamkos banked in a shot off goaltender Cam Talbot at 15:51 of the period and gave the Lightning a 3-2 lead in the game, which would hold until the buzzer sounded.

That furious rally in Edmonton would be the beginning of a surge towards clinching a spot in the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs and a run at glory.

The Lightning went onto win the final two games of that road trip, including a 4-0 victory against the Colorado Avalanche on national television. After returning home, they won the next four games as a part of their seven game win streak and rocketed up to second place in the division. Clinching a playoff spot looked like a real possibility after that much needed streak.

When the first two months of the new year had come to an end, the Lightning found themselves in the midst of another seven game win streak after a 2-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs. They had gone 19-6-0 in January and February and remained in second place in the division, just two points behind the Panthers, when March 1st rolled around.

Then history happened in the next few days, when the Lightning picked up two victories over the Senators and Carolina Hurricanes to extend their win streak to nine games, a new franchise record. By March 6th, they were in first place in the Atlantic Division but held a short lead.

When the final month of the season rolled around, the Lightning were in a full push for a playoff spot, chasing the division lead at times, as well. Finally, after a turbulent few weeks, the Lightning clinched a playoff spot following a 3-2 loss in regulation to the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. The Hurricanes beat the Boston Bruins in a shootout, clinching the spot for the Lightning.

With two games remaining in the regular season, a bit of the pressure was off after clinching a spot, but it was important for them to finish strong. The Lightning went 1-1-0 in the final two games and finished the season with a 46-31-5 record, good for 97 points and second place in the Atlantic Division.

Next up was the Red Wings, which had finished four points behind the Lightning in the standings, in a first round rematch from last year.

Though the Lightning finished with 11 fewer points overall, they accomplished their goal of making the playoffs. But, the ultimate goal is to win the Stanley Cup and they came ever so close from contending for the Cup for a second straight year, falling short in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final.

There will likely be a more in-depth 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs season in review article coming soon, but in short, the Tampa Bay Lightning faced two weaker opponents, in comparison to Pittsburgh, in the first two rounds and did what they needed to do: close out those teams early in order to conserve energy and rest up for the following rounds.

The Lightning were able to overcome some almost detrimental injuries to Anton Stralman (fractured fibula) and Stamkos (blood clot) prior to the playoffs due to the strong play of Bishop, Hedman, Johnson, Kucherov, and Drouin. Each of those players stepped up in various ways to help the Lightning advance beyond the second round.

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Unfortunately, the Lightning encountered a very good opponent in the Penguins in the Conference Final and were outplayed for most of the series. I think this series really came down to which team’s stars came through at the right moments and who could defend well and apply the most pressure, as we most certainly saw from the Penguins in Games 6 and 7.

I will say that losing Bishop early on in Game 1 did have a major impact in the result of this series. Vasilevskiy played well enough to keep the Lightning in most games, but I do believe Bishop could have turned the tables in a few of those outcomes. From Game 1 out, Vasy helped carry the team to a Game 7, but just “fell short”. And I put fell short in quotes because they were outplayed last night, but only lost by one goal.

Despite falling short, I do believe there is still a chance for the Lightning to return to this point and beyond if all the right pieces fall into place and they continue to play at this high level. Injuries and other misfortunes held the team back a bit this year, especially towards the beginning, as we saw a dip in some key statistical areas and in overall goal scoring. Fortunately, though, Bishop had the best season of his career and is a Vezina Trophy finalist after a rough start early on. If he remains with the team, the window for winning a championship is still open, in my opinion.

Next: Tampa Bay Lightning: The Failure And The Future

Not to forget, the Jonathan Drouin saga that began in mid-January continues as we will see what his future holds with the organization. Drouin certainly made a case to management that he is here to stay after his breakout performance in the playoffs with five goals and 14 points. If he does remain in Tampa Bay, that will only boost the Lightning’s chances for future success.

Finally, after reviewing the performance of the team over the course of this season, I’ve come up with my three stars of the 2015-16 campaign: Nikita Kucherov, Victor Hedman, and Ben Bishop (team MVP). Kucherov really stepped up his game this year and his scoring touch helped fill in for the injuries that plagued the Lightning throughout the season. He led the team in points in the regular season and playoffs and is a key piece in the future of the Lightning.

Victor Hedman continued to dominate this season with his top-pair partner in Anton Stralman. His smooth skating, ability to join the rush, and large frame all contributed towards the success of the Lightning defense and he will only get better. In the coming years, look for him to increase his offensive production and potentially be a finalist for the Norris Trophy.

And obviously, Ben Bishop deserves the number one star for this season behind his 35 wins and league-low 2.06 GAA to go along with a .926 SV%. He was the most consistent player for the Lightning and kept the team in games when they simply didn’t show up. Bishop continued his steady play in the playoffs before he went down with an injury in the Conference Final and earned two elimination game shutouts en route to the third round against Pittsburgh.

Next: Tampa Bay Lightning Suffer Heartbreaking Loss In Game 7

I want to thank you for supporting us all season long and please stick around in the offseason as we cover various topics concerning the draft, free agency, and more!