Tampa Bay Lightning: Top Rivalries Heading Into 2016-17 Season

Honorable mention – New York Islanders

Although the two teams only played each other three times during the regular season, the intensity between the Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Islanders increased during the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Even though the series only lasted five games, I felt like there was some real hatred between the two sides, especially after games three and four.

During the two games in Brooklyn, there was great energy and the building was rocking, mainly because of the back-and-forth nature of game three and the thunderous hit by Thomas Hickey on Lightning forward Jonathan Drouin during the second period of that game. All of that only added to the intensity of the series. As we know, the Lightning would go onto win 5-4 in overtime.

This match-up by no means constitutes a rivalry, but I gave it an honorable mention because of the playoff series and some of the regular season games, especially the 7-4 victory by the Lightning on March 25th. Come next season, the three games against the Islanders will be something to watch out for and it’ll be interesting to see how the first game since the second round plays out.

Nonetheless, the Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Islanders are both solid teams and may very well meet each other in a future playoff series. Each team has a core of good, young players and both play in fairly competitive divisions, so it should be interesting to see how each finish after this coming season.

Next: Number Five