If there was a unique takeaway you could look at from this past season, it was the Tampa Bay Lightning’s incredible play at home this past regular season.
In 2022-23, the Bolts went 28-11-5 at home in the Bay. This record includes both the regular season and playoff series against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Unfortunately, the Lighting went winless at Amalie Arena during this year’s postseason.
A notable stretch the Lightning had at home was their 12-game win streak in between the beginning of December and end of January at home this year. It set a new franchise record that was previously at 11 wins. The record was set on January 28th with a win at home over the Los Angeles Kings, 5-2.
The crowd at Amalie Arena was most definitely a factor with around 61% of Tampa Bay’s wins coming at home.
"“You just can’t take home ice for granted. It’s a privilege and at times it can be an advantage…it’s like a rush, it’s euphoric.”"
This has not been the only season the lightning have found themselves using the home crowd at Amalie Arena as a winning factor.
Since the 2017-18 season, Tampa Bay is 159-50-17 in Amalie Arena. That is a win percentage of 70%.
As for attendance numbers during the 2022-23 season, the Tampa Bay Lightning averaged 19,092 people per home game at Amalie Arena. That ranked third highest in the league this season behind just the Carolina Hurricanes and Montreal Canadiens.
The average is about the same as last season’s mark which ranked at the top of the league. Winning back-to-back Stanley Cups in the previous years had a good bit to do with that ranking and probably played a key role in this year’s ranking too.
Games at Amalie Arena helped the Lightning’s record in a major way. It is safe to say that based on this season, as well as previous seasons, the Bolts’ home arena will be a big helper to team success going forward.