Hockey Blog > Tampa Bay Lightning
Lightning-Hurricanes Preview
GAME: Tampa Bay Lightning (42-32-5) at Carolina Hurricanes (51-21-7).
TIME: Friday, 7 p.m. EDT.
After winning the Stanley Cup in 2004-05, the Tampa Bay Lightning are clinging to the Eastern Conference's final playoff spot, and hardly look poised to defend their crown.
Hoping to avoid a third straight loss, the Lightning visit the Southeast Division champion Carolina Hurricanes in the opener of a home-and-home series and a potential first-round playoff preview.
Senators-Lightning Preview
GAME: Ottawa Senators at Tampa Bay Lightning.
PLAYOFF SERIES: Eastern Conference quarterfinals; tied 1-1.
TIME: Tuesday, 7 p.m. EDT.
After a lackluster loss in Game 1, the Tampa Bay Lightning finally played like a team out to defend its Stanley Cup championship. Now they will try to do it again.
After taking a game on the road from the top-seeded Ottawa Senators, the eighth-seeded Lightning look to grab a 2-1 series lead as the series shifts to Tampa Bay for Game 3.
Hurricanes 5, Lightning 4, SO
Matt Cullen learned his shootout lessons well, be it from a year spent in Italy during the lockout or all the times this season he watched other players around the NHL score in the new tiebreaker.
"In Italy, we worked on breakaways for probably 20 minutes in practice every day," the Carolina center said. "Here, after a game, we'll be in the gym working out, and you see the other teams' shootouts. You kind of get ideas from guys, and you learn whether you should shoot or deke.
Hurricanes-Lightning Preview
GAME: Carolina Hurricanes (52-21-7) at Tampa Bay Lightning (42-32-6).
TIME: Saturday, 7:30 p.m. EDT.
The Carolina Hurricanes look to move into sole possession of first place in the Eastern Conference when they complete a home-and-home series with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Carolina and Ottawa are tied for the East lead with 111 points. If the Hurricanes win their final two games, they will clinch the No. 1 seed in the postseason.
Defending champs embrace underdog role
The Tampa Bay Lightning are undaunted by being a heavy underdog to Ottawa in the first round of the NHL playoffs.
The reigning Stanley Cup champions begin defense of their title against the top seed in the Eastern Conference on Friday night. The Senators won all four meetings between the teams during the regular season and are 17-2-1 against their former expansion mates over the past five years.
"They've got history on their side with us. ...
Lightning-Senators Preview
GAME: Tampa Bay Lightning (43-33-6) at Ottawa Senators (52-21-9).
PLAYOFF SERIES: Eastern Conference quarterfinals; Game 1.
TIME: Friday, 7 p.m. EDT.
The Ottawa Senators have been one of the best teams in the regular season and one of the worst teams in the playoffs.
They look to put aside their postseason failures as they host Game 1 of their conference quarterfinal series against the defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning.
Hurricanes tie for East lead with shootout win vs. Bolts
Matt Cullen scored the only goal in a shootout and the Hurricanes tied Ottawa atop the Eastern Conference with a 5-4 victory over the Lightning.
Desperate Thrashers keep playoff hopes alive
Atlanta is desperate and confident, a combination the Thrashers hope will carry them into the NHL playoffs.
"Every guy in the room right now believes that we can do it," defenseman Andy Sutton said Tuesday night after Atlanta's 6-2 victory over Tampa Bay tightened the race for the last two positions in the Eastern Conference.
"If we were to get in, I don't think there's a team in the league that would want to play us, especially the way we've been playing down the stretch," Sutton added.
Thrashers-Lightning, Sums
Atlanta 2 4 0-6
Tampa Bay 1 0 1-2
First Period-1, Tampa Bay, Afanasenkov 9 (Richards, Craig), 5:36. 2, Atlanta, Sutton 5 (Bondra, Kovalchuk), 9:17. 3, Atlanta, Holik 13, 14:08. Penalty-Kovalchuk, Atl (tripping), 2:17.
Second Period-4, Atlanta, Sutton 6 (Kozlov), 1:35. 5, Atlanta, Holik 14 (Mellanby, Slater), 3:59. 6, Atlanta, McCarthy 7 (Savard, Kovalchuk), 10:12 (pp). 7, Atlanta, Hossa 37 (Aubin), 14:38 (sh).
Lightning 4, Rangers 3, SO
The Tampa Bay Lightning went from spectators to winners.
Brad Richards scored the lone goal in a shootout, and John Grahame stopped three shots in the tiebreaker to lift the Lightning to a 4-3 victory over the New York Rangers on Saturday night.
"I think we watched them play a little bit at the start of the game," Richards said. "We were worried about some of their key players, and after they scored their third goal we just started playing and didn't care what they were doing.
Tampa Bay's Kubina leaves game with lower-body injury
Tampa Bay defenseman Pavel Kubina left the Lightning's game Monday night against the Carolina Hurricanes because of a lower-body injury.
His absence left the Lightning even more short-handed on the blue line because Dan Boyle didn't even dress. He hurt his right ankle Saturday night against the New York Rangers, and is listed as day to day.
Tampa Bay nearly lost another defenseman in the first period, when Darryl Sydor went down after a check from Carolina's Aaron Ward.
Hockey Daily March 27
The Carolina Hurricanes need one more point to clinch a playoff berth. Watch them try to secure that point Monday night against the Lightning on FSN South.
Recchi gets first goal as Hurricane
Mark Recchi got his first goal for Carolina, Martin Gerber had 23 saves and the Hurricanes clinched a playoff spot with a 2-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday night.
Cory Stillman also scored as Carolina moved ahead of Nashville for the best home record in the NHL. This performance was much better than the one Saturday, when Washington dominated throughout and handed the Hurricanes only their second loss at the RBC Center since Feb. 10.
Lightning-Hurricanes, Sums
Tampa Bay 0 1 0-1
Carolina 1 1 0-2
First Period-1, Carolina, Stillman 19 (Cullen), 4:52. Penalties-Ranger, TB (holding stick), 7:37; Kaberle, Car (hooking), 15:05; A.Ward, Car (tripping), 18:41; Brind'Amour, Car (roughing), 18:59.
Second Period-2, Tampa Bay, St. Louis 25 (Sarich, Prospal), :26 (pp). 3, Carolina, Recchi 25 (LaRose, Tverdovsky), 8:48 (pp).
Thrashers-Lightning Preview
GAME: Atlanta Thrashers (35-30-6) at Tampa Bay Lightning (38-29-5).
TIME: Thursday, 7:30 p.m. EST.
Tied with two teams in the race for the sixth through eighth seeds in the Eastern Conference, the Tampa Bay Lightning look to hold off another playoff hopeful when they host the Atlanta Thrashers.
Tampa Bay lost 2-1 to Carolina on Monday night, then watched as Montreal and New Jersey won Tuesday to pull into a tie for sixth with the Lightning with 81 points.
Hurricanes 2, Lightning 1
The Carolina Hurricanes have much bigger goals than simply making the playoffs as they wrap up the best regular season in franchise history.
Still, qualifying for the postseason is the first step, one they officially took Monday night.
"Obviously, the goal is to win the Stanley Cup," coach Peter Laviolette said. "But there's a road that you have to go down to get there, and there's 82 games on it. You have to play all of them, and if you have to play them, you might as well win them.
