Time is winding down on the regular season, and the Lightning are looking to get home ice advantage. As we’ve seen recently with some of the top teams in the league, it can get tricky towards the end of the season right before the playoffs start.
The Lightning are still holding on to a two-point lead over the Florida Panthers for second place in the Atlantic Division. It’s probable that we’ll see the Battle of Florida play out again in the first round. With a 27-8-4 home record, being able to start the series off in Tampa would give the Lightning an edge.
“Ultimately, you want to get the results, right?” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said after the game on Friday. “You want the two points. But what we’re doing now, our process has not been right here for the last little bit. And it’s unfortunate, because we’ve put ourselves in a pretty good situation and a lot of hard work’s gone into 70-plus games, and now it looks like we’re playing preseason games.”
The Lightning currently hold a tiebreaker advantage over the Panthers due to more regulation wins.
Luke Glendening is out indefinitely, Oliver Bjorkstrand is week-to-week
It was announced on Friday that face-off expert, Luke Glendening would be out for the rest of the regular season after leaving early against Toronto with an undisclosed injury. The team is hopeful he will be ready to go for the postseason.
Jon Cooper also confirmed on Sunday that forward, Oliver Bjorkstrand is week-to-week with a lower body injury. They’re hoping he will be okay to return at some point in the postseason.
Gage Goncalves has transitioned well in the NHL
Gage Goncalves had his first multi-point game against Detroit on Friday night. After being recalled from Syracuse for the final time on February 18, Goncalves has held his own. With three games left in the regular season, he seems to have found a spot in the top-six, sharing a line with Anthony Cirelli and Brandon Hagel. He currently has a plus-7 rating with 8 goals and 10 assists.
“These guys are obviously some of the best players in the world.. So, I’m just picking up tips, and they’re helping a lot. They’re unbelievable guys away from the rink. So, they definitely helped me a lot.”
Good defense will take the Lightning where they want to go in the playoffs
During the offseason, Lightning GM Julien BriseBois made it clear that becoming a better 5-on-5 team was the main goal. With just three games left in the regular season, Tampa Bay is currently 6th in the league in 5-on-5 goals against, improving from their 28th place ranking at this time last year.
When the Lightning won back-to-back Stanley Cups, they were a stout defensive team. The Florida Panthers mimicked that notion in 2023-24 with a shutdown-style defense that helped them become Stanley Cup Champions.
On media day in September 2024, Ryan McDonagh emphasized the importance of building their defensive game in order to be successful in the playoffs, with the main goal of winning another Stanley Cup.
“We just have to be committed on the defensive side,” McDonagh said last week. “We feel confident about our offense and we've got a game when it's rolling. Where we get ourselves in some trouble is when we slip a little bit defensively.. some structure, some puck management, plenty of lessons learned now at this point in the season. We can really lock into that. I think everything kind of just feeds off of that.”
“Keeping the goals against down, the shots down, then we're able to still go on the attack offensively, so it's just a continued emphasis and a good recipe for us going forward.”
Isaac Howard is expected to return to Michigan State for his senior year
Isaac Howard was awarded the Hobey Baker Award on Friday, as the top player in NCAA hockey for the 2024-25 season.
Lightning fans have enthusiastically hoped the first-rounder would sign as soon as he became eligible, but on Friday Howard said he’d be returning to Michigan State for a final year.
Historically, the Lightning organization has chosen a merit-based process when it comes to the Syracuse to Tampa development pipeline. The culture is built, you earn your spot and no player is bigger than the team. That’s what has made them successful.
“I just feel like with me and Tampa, I guess we didn’t see eye to eye the same way I thought we would,” Howard told the Spittin' Chiclets podcast on Friday. “It wasn’t a situation where I was demanding to step right into the NHL, it wasn’t anything like that... It just didn’t necessarily work out and coming back to Michigan State is unreal.”
Current rostered players that spent time with the Syracuse Crunch include; Gage Goncalves, Mitchell Chaffee, Darren Raddysh, Emil Lilleberg, and Nick Perbix. All will see ice time in the playoffs. Conor Geekie, who was chosen in the first round of the 2022 NHL draft, spent the last two months with AHL Syracuse developing his game. He was called back up on Sunday to play in Tampa.
The Lightning knew the type of player they were getting when Howard declared himself “the best looking guy at the draft,” but maybe it’s not an ideal fit. To be determined.