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Tampa Bay Lightning: How Can The Team Get Back On Track?

ByTasha St. Pierre|
Jan 26, 2017; Sunrise, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Lightning right wing Nikita Kucherov (86) celebrates his goal against the Florida Panthers with center Alex Killorn (17) defenseman Victor Hedman (77) left wing Jonathan Drouin (27) and center Tyler Johnson (9) in the first period at BB&T Center. Mandatory Credit: Robert Mayer-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 26, 2017; Sunrise, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Lightning right wing Nikita Kucherov (86) celebrates his goal against the Florida Panthers with center Alex Killorn (17) defenseman Victor Hedman (77) left wing Jonathan Drouin (27) and center Tyler Johnson (9) in the first period at BB&T Center. Mandatory Credit: Robert Mayer-USA TODAY Sports
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Tampa Bay Lightning
Tampa Bay Lightning

In this week’s edition of the Bolts By The Bay Round Table, we take a closer look at the struggles the Tampa Bay Lightning have been going through and what’s needed to get back on track.

The 2016-17 season has definitely been everything other than what the Tampa Bay Lightning and their fans expected when the first puck dropped on October 13, 2016. In the beginning, the Lightning was believed to be the team to beat when it came to winning the Stanley Cup this season.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t long before an insane amount of injuries began to plague some of the key members of the team. One by one, it seemed as if half of the team has spent at least a couple of days on the Lightning’s dreaded injury list. In fact, injuries have essentially claimed the Lightning’s entire leadership core.

While there have been some glimmers of hope throughout the course of the season, like the team’s amazing 5-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on January 24th at the United Center in Chicago, there have been plenty of nights where Lightning fans have thrown their hands in the air in disbelief.

It is the latter moments which have left Lightning fans bewildered and asking themselves, what does the team need to do in order to get back on track and have any hopes of salvaging the season? This particular question is essentially the most difficult question facing the team right now.

Why is it so cumbersome, you may ask? Well…the answer is simple. If this were a simple fix, people like Tampa Bay Lightning Vice President and General Manager Steve Yzerman and/or Lightning Head Coach Jon Cooper would’ve come up with the solution a long time ago.

While no one here at Bolts By The Bay professes to know more than Steve Yzerman or Jon Cooper when it comes to what is good for the team, sometimes an outside opinion can create the spark needed to formulate a plan; one that just might work.

So, in this week’s edition of the Bolts By The Bay Round Table, we are going to take a closer look at the less-favorable moments of the Tampa Bay Lightning’s season thus far and give our take on what we believe the Lightning must do in order to get back on track and have any chance of salvaging their season.

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