Tampa Bay Lightning

Andrei Vasilevskiy has turned the Carolina Hurricanes into a gentle breeze. 

The star goalie made 31 saves on 32 shots in Tuesday's Game 2, again stymying the Hurricanes en route to a 2-1 Lightning victory and a 2-0 series lead for the defending champions. Alex Killorn and Anthony Cirelli each scored for Tampa. 

Andrei Svechnikov's goal with just 1:30 remaining in the game made for a dramatic finish, but the Lightning held on for the win. 

Vasilevskiy was pretty darn good in Tampa's Game 1 win, too, saving 37 of Carolina's 38 shots in the 2-1 win. 

The Hurricanes outshot the Lightning 32-15, outhit them 38-29 and won more faceoffs (31-29). In almost every facet of the game, they dominated. But Tampa's defense was excellent in front of Vasilevskiy, blocking 16 shots, while Carolina had 23 giveaways in the loss. 

Oh, and there was the 2-1 advantage in goals for Tampa, too. 

The Lightning made the most of their limited opportunities. Killorn opened the scoring in the second period with a missile of a wrister:

A bad giveaway by the Hurricanes set up Cirelli for Tampa's second goal in the third period, a lead that looked impenetrable with Vasilevskiy in net. 

But Andrei Svechnikov gave the Hurricanes some hope in the dying moments, cutting the deficit in half: 

The Hurricanes spent the remainder of the game pestering the Tampa net with the 6-5 advantage after Alex Nedeljkovic, but couldn't find a goal to send the game to overtime. 

When you're trying to beat Vasilevskiy, dramatic, game-tying goals are hard to come by. 

"If you'd said we were going to go to Carolina and not give up a 5-on-5 goal through two games, I'd take that all day," Lightning head coach Jon Cooper told reporters. 

The series now heads to Tampa Bay, with Game 3 on Thursday at 8 p.m. ET and broadcast on USA. If the Hurricanes can't muster a road win, their season is over. 

Hurricanes fans will be hoping the first two games were simply the calm before the storm. Vasilevskiy will have something to say about that. 

The Tampa Bay Lightning will no longer ban fans from wearing opposing teams' apparel in the premium seats at their home stadium, Amalie Arena.

The team relayed the information to ESPN's Greg Wyshynski, who provided more information about the now-defunct policy:

Starting in 2015, the Lightning instituted this ticket policy that prohibited any other team's gear in club seat areas. The team told ESPN that at full capacity, the policy impacted roughly six percent of the seats in the arena. With limited capacity due to COVID-19 protocols, the policy impacts around 10 percent of seats.

As Wyshynski reported, the policy change happened soon after a Florida Panthers fan and his 11-year-old son were asked by security to remove their Panthers jerseys while sitting in Amalie Arena premium seats during the Lightning's first-round playoff series win over their in-state rival. The Panthers fan recorded the incident, which can be seen below:

The Panthers fan in question said he was made aware of the policy before the game by a team representative, and the Lightning said that they clearly communicated the team's policy to fans who buy premium seats in advance, per Wyshynski.

However, that policy is now no longer in place, and the team issued this statement about it to John Romano of the Tampa Bay Times.

After careful consideration the Lightning have elected to relax its visiting team apparel policy in the premium clubs for playoff games at Amalie Arena. The policy was originally instituted in 2015 at the request of our valued ticket holders in those areas, but we realize we have grown as an organization and as a hockey market since that time and it is no longer necessary.

The defending Stanley Cup Final champion Lightning will now play the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round of the NHL playoffs. Game 1 will take place in Raleigh, North Carolina on Sunday.

Tampa Bay, which will host Games 3 and 4 (and 6 if necessary), announced that the team will welcome 13,500 fans into Amelie Arena 

The Tampa Bay Lightning made history Monday by becoming the first NHL team to start a forward line comprised completely of Black players.

It was announced as part of the broadcast during the second period of Monday's game between the Lightning and Florida Panthers that the Bolts did something that had never been done before in the NHL by opening the game with Mathieu Joseph, Gemel Smith and Daniel Walcott up front:

Per NHL.com's William Douglas, Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said the following about the historic triumvirate: "First of all, they're all in the NHL for a reason. They deserve to be here and have worked their tails off. To have them all together, they had a little chemistry. Moving forward in the league, you hope it isn't a story anymore and will be the norm. It was a pretty cool moment for all those guys."

The Lightning lost Monday's game 4-0, and the trio of Joseph, Smith and Walcott combined for two shots on goal and 11 hits. Walcott made his NHL debut in the contest and picked up a fighting major after battling Panthers defenseman Kevin Connauton.

While it was Walcott's first NHL game, Joseph has now appeared in 56 games this season and 163 games over three seasons with the Lightning, and Smith has appeared in 88 career NHL games with the Dallas Stars, Boston Bruins and Lightning.

With regard to playing alongside Walcott and Smith, Joseph said:

"It's a step in the right direction. My goal, and the goal of players of color in this league, obviously want to showcase their sports to your families or other people of color. It's definitely awesome to be one of the guys who were for that, and it was all from the coaching staff that did that tonight, but it's a great recognition, for sure."

Douglas noted that while an all-Black line starting an NHL game had never happened before Monday, it has occurred at other levels of professional hockey. Most recently, the American Hockey League's Ontario Reign—the Los Angeles Kings' affiliate—started Quinton Byfield, Akil Thomas and Devante Smith-Pelly together on March 22.

Monday's game was a playoff preview, as the Lightning and Panthers will clash in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs with Florida owning home-ice advantage by virtue of Monday's win.

The Tampa Bay Lightning became the sixth NHL team to clinch a postseason berth, locking up their spot in the playoffs with a 7-4 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday.

The Stanley Cup champions are 33-14-2 and in third place in the Central Division after a realignment caused by the coronavirus pandemic grouped them with the Florida Panthers, Chicago Blackhawks, Nashville Predators, Carolina Hurricanes, Columbus Blue Jackets, Detroit Red Wings and Dallas Stars.

It's the fourth consecutive season the Bolts have secured a berth in the postseason, and they will be expected to make another deep run as long as they stay healthy. So far, though, that hasn't proved too straightforward.

Steven Stamkos has been out since April 8 after being placed on long-term injured reserve with a lower body injury, while Nikita Kucherov isn't expected to return before the end of the regular season after hip surgery in December. And defenseman Jan Rutta missed about a month with a lower body injury in late March.

The Lightning still have enough pieces to succeed in the postseason, but they will need them back if they are to have a legitimate shot to repeat in the Stanley Cup Final.

The goal for the rest of the season will be to get everyone healthy and tinker with some last-minute line combinations before the playoffs open on May 11.

The Tampa Bay Lightning are offering one lucky fan and five of their friends the opportunity of a lifetime: a night with the Stanley Cup.

According to Ben Montgomery of Yahoo Sports, the Lightning are turning one of their suites at Amalie Arena into an Airbnb for one night only on April 24.

The first fan to book the reservation when it goes live can stay the night in the Amalie Arena suite with five other guests. The cost to book the suite is $5,000, which will benefit the Lightning Foundation and the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay.

In addition to getting to sleep near the Stanley Cup, the lucky winner and their friends will have their own private happy hour complete with champagne and a five-course meal.

They will also be treated to a tour of the arena, private ice time, a chance to sound the goal horn and a movie on the Lightning Vision screen.

The Lightning won the Stanley Cup last season when they beat the Dallas Stars in six games in the Stanley Cup Final.

That marked the second Cup win in franchise history for the Bolts and their first since the 2003-04 season.

Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman won the Conn Smythe Trophy as MVP of the playoffs thanks to his 10 goals and 12 assists in 25 games.

Tampa is once again in position to challenge for the Stanley Cup this season, as its 60 points are tied for the second-most in the NHL with the Carolina Hurricanes, Washington Capitals, Vegas Golden Knights and Toronto Maple Leafs. The Colorado Avalanche lead the way with 64 points. 

Tampa Bay Lightning star Steven Stamkos will miss at least the next 10 games with a lower-body injury, the team announced Thursday.

The 31-year-old made 57 appearances during the 2019-20 regular season but was limited to a total of 2:47 on the ice during a playoff run that culminated in a Stanley Cup. He underwent surgery for a core muscle injury in February 2020.

Before the puck dropped for the abbreviated 2021 season, the Lightning announced they would likely be without Nikita Kucherov until the postseason because of hip surgery. That put more pressure on Tampa Bay's captain to lead the attack.

Through 38 games, Stamkos has 17 goals and 17 assists.

The Lightning's repeat bid took a hit with Kucherov's injury and Kevin Shattenkirk's departure in free agency. Still, plenty of players are back from last year's squad to at least keep the franchise in contention until the playoffs, when the Russian winger might be back on the ice.

Losing Stamkos for another extended period is a big blow, though.

The Tampa Bay Lightning have removed captain Steven Stamkos from the NHL's COVID-19 list, according to George Richards of Florida Hockey Now.

That would make Stamkos eligible to return Monday night against the Florida Panthers, though he has recently been dealing with a lower-body injury.

The 31-year-old hasn't stepped onto the ice since Tampa Bay's 6-1 win over the Nashville Predators on Tuesday. On Friday, he acknowledged his positive COVID-19 test but was optimistic the result was only a false positive:

It would appear Stamkos' test was a false positive since players who are flagged for multiple positive tests face an isolation period lasting at least 10 days.

Stamkos missed all but a few minutes of Tampa Bay's Stanley Cup run, eventually undergoing surgery for a core muscle injury in October.

The two-time All-Star hasn't shown any lingering effects from the injury or the procedure. He's third on the team with 14 points (seven goals and seven assists), helping to fill the void left as Nikita Kucherov recovers from hip surgery.

Thanks in part to Stamkos' contributions, the Lightning have the third-most points (21) in the NHL and look poised for another deep playoff run.

Tampa Bay Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois confirmed that star winger Nikita Kucherov is expected to miss the 2020-21 regular season after undergoing hip surgery.

The 27-year-old is among the NHL's most dangerous offensive players, finishing last season with 33 goals and 52 assists in 58 games. He led the Lightning in points (34) in the playoffs over 25 games as they went on to lift the Stanley Cup.

In 2018-19, Kucherov enjoyed a career year that saw him score 41 goals and dish out 87 assists for a personal-best 128 points. He won the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer and was named league MVP by virtue of winning the Hart Memorial Trophy.

The Russian has progressively gotten better since debuting with 18 points in 52 games as a rookie with the Lightning in 2013-14. His point totals climbed to 65, 66 and 85 before finally reaching the 100-point plateau in 2017-18.

The Lightning hadn't even finished celebrating their Stanley Cup triumph before they faced the brutal reality of the NHL's salary cap. The silver lining of Kucherov's surgery is that his absence will provide some financial relief as he goes on long-term injured reserve.

But Kucherov will be sorely missed in the regular season when Tampa Bay starts its title defense on Jan. 13.

The Tampa Bay Lightning and veteran forward Tyler Johnson are reportedly working on finding a potential trade fit.

Johnson has a no-trade clause, but according to TSN's Darren Dreger, he has given the Lightning "several teams to work with" as they attempt to find a taker.

The 30-year-old Johnson, who has spent all of his eight NHL seasons with the Lightning, helped guide Tampa to a Stanley Cup championship last season, recording four goals and three assists in 25 playoff games.

Per CapFriendly, Johnson has four years remaining on his contract with an annual salary-cap hit of $5 million, meaning he could be difficult to move unless the Bolts are willing to eat part of the contract.

Johnson was once among Tampa Bay's top offensive contributors, as he put up a career-high 29 goals and 72 points in 2014-15. His high point total in a season since then is just 50, and he finished with only 31 points in 65 regular-season games last season.

With that said, Johnson is just two years removed from tying his career high of 29 goals, and that scoring upside may be enough for a team to take a chance on him, especially if that team can put the 5'8", 180-pound center alongside some other highly talented offensive players.

Johnson's production in Tampa has largely depended on his supporting cast. He has put up numbers when playing next to the likes of Nikita Kucherov, Steven Stamkos or Brayden Point, but when placed in a lesser role, his scoring has naturally suffered.

Johnson has long been a quality depth player for the Lightning, but they could really benefit from his $5 million cap hit coming off the books.

Defenseman Mikhail Sergachev is a restricted free agent this offseason. Veteran blueliner Kevin Shattenkirk is an unrestricted free agent, and they would likely love to re-sign him if possible.

Veteran forward Patrick Maroon is a UFA and forward Anthony Cirelli is an RFA. On top of that, Point will reach RFA status at the conclusion of the 2021-22 season.

The salary cap forces NHL teams to make difficult decisions, and they usually end up keeping their stars and letting some of the complementary pieces go.

Johnson is a secondary player at this point in his career, and although the Lightning may no longer have room for him, he could be a quality fit for another contending team or a team in need of veteran leadership if they are able to clear enough cap space to accommodate him.