Steven Stamkos’s signing with the Nashville Predators sparked a series of questions from Lightning fans far and wide. Questions such as, “Will Hedman be the next captain? How will Guentzel perform in a Lighting Sweater? What will become of the Tampa Bay Lightning during the 2024-2025 season without Stamkos?” plagued the Tampa Bay community.
Thankfully, the Lightning were able to put to rest all the anxiety of Lightning fans. Due to their resilient play, the team managed to end the season with a seventh place finish in the National Hockey League as per NHL.com.
The Lightning offense during the regular season was quite the entertaining spectacle. The Tampa Bay Lightning had approximately six 20 goal-scorers on the roster during the 2024-2025 season as per ESPN.com. Of those six scorers, ESPN.com records four of them as having scored over 30 goals.
Depth scoring is critical for any organization in the National Hockey League. Teams live and die by their depth. After all, one needs goals in order to win a hockey game. Due to their depth, the Lightning were able to win approximately 47 hockey games as per NHL.com. To add to their offensive accolades, NHL.com states the Lightning led the National Hockey League with a remarkable 292 goals for. By the same token, the Lightning finished the season with a top-five power play as per NHL.com.
The Lightning’s scoring came from various spots in the lineup. Even towards the end of the season, the Lightning acquired Yanni Gourde and Oliver Bjorkstrand in order to contribute towards depth. No matter who the opponent was during the regular season, the Lightning always managed to be a scoring threat. Moving into the 2025-2026 NHL season, the Lightning will look to continue their impressive scoring habits.
However, any conversation about the Lightning’s offense would be incomplete without a conversation concerning their latest playoff run. The 2024-2025 NHL season unfortunately ended with an early first round for the Bolts at the hand of the Florida Panthers. While it was heartbreaking, let’s take a deep dive into the offense.
Per ESPN.com, the Lightning’s top offensive contributors in terms of stats through five games were Jake Guentzel with six points, Gage Goncalves with four points, and Nikita Kucherov with four points. During the five game playoff series, NHL.com states the Lightning left the playoffs with 2.4 goals per playoff game, making them the second worst of any playoff team. Conversely during the regular season, NHL.com records the Tampa Bay Lightning as having managed an astounding 3.56 goals per regular season game, making them the best of any team in the National Hockey League. What a stark difference!
While the disparity between regular season and playoffs can be attributed to any number of conflicting reasons, what is undisputed is the mere fact that the Lightning must be better. The Tampa Bay Lightning have built themselves to be a team that can stand with the rest of the juggernauts of the National Hockey League. The 2024-2025 season was the season in which the Lightning solidified goal scoring as a main core competency of their team. If a specific core competency vanishes within an organization, it can spell disaster. For the Lightning, it is the unfortunate reality of the 2024-2025 playoffs. For next season, the Lightning will look to hopefully practice consistency so when the playoffs come around, they will be prepared to masterfully strike.