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New York Rangers rivals: Tampa Bay Lightning season preview

By Andrew Steele-Davis

NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 27: New York Rangers center Ryan Strome (16) skates with puck as Tampa Bay Lightning center Steven Stamkos (91) defends during the Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Rangers NHL game on February 27, 2019, at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY. (Photo by John Crouch/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 27: New York Rangers center Ryan Strome (16) skates with puck as Tampa Bay Lightning center Steven Stamkos (91) defends during the Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Rangers NHL game on February 27, 2019, at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY. (Photo by John Crouch/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, NY – FEBRUARY 27: Brendan Lemieux #48 of the New York Rangers skates against Ryan McDonagh #27 and Andrei Vasilevskly #88 of the Tampa Bay Lightning at Madison Square Garden on February 27, 2019 in New York City. The Tampa Bay Lightning won 4-3 in overtime. (Photo by Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY – FEBRUARY 27: Brendan Lemieux #48 of the New York Rangers skates against Ryan McDonagh #27 and Andrei Vasilevskly #88 of the Tampa Bay Lightning at Madison Square Garden on February 27, 2019 in New York City. The Tampa Bay Lightning won 4-3 in overtime. (Photo by Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images) /

Despite an embarrassing and shambolic First Round Playoff exit last year, the Tampa Bay Lightning are still the best team in the NHL and they have all the tools they need to win the Stanley Cup with some help from former New York Rangers players.

Boasting one of, if not the best roster in the league including former New York Rangers captain Ryan McDonagh, the Lightning absolutely dominated the 2018-19 regular season and they broke record after record in impressive fashion.

With elite stars such as Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov, Victor Hedman, Brayden Point and a Vezina Trophy winner in Andrei Vasilevskiy on the roster, the Lightning are loaded up and down their lineup and they beat up on almost everybody last year.

They finished first in both the Eastern Conference and in the Atlantic Division, carving out a stunning 62-16-4 record overall and they became the first team in the NHL to win 62 games since the legendary Detroit Red Wings team of the 90’s achieved the feat during 1995-96 season.

Tampa Bay finished 32-7-2 at home and 30-9-2 on the road and they had a playoff berth clinched by March 8, 2019.

They also led the NHL in most categories in 2018-19, leading the league in Goals For (319), Goals For Per Game (3.89), Power Play (28.2) and the Penalty Kill (85.0).

In other words, the Lightning were historic during the regular season and they were being fired towards greatness by Nikita Kucherov, who put together a career-year for the ages with 128 points (41 goals, 87 assists) in 82 games.

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Steven Stamkos also enjoyed a hell of a year after tallying 45 goals and 53 assists for 98 points, while young stud Brayden Point exploded into life with 92 points (41 goals, 51 assists).

In total, the Lightning had 12 players who contributed 30 or more points in 2018-19, including a plethora of depth players which perfectly illustrates just how loaded this Tampa team is.

So, it was no surprise when the Tampa Bay Lightning cleaned up at the NHL Awards with Andrei Vasilevskiy taking home the Vezina Trophy after producing a 2.40 Goals Against Average and a .925 Save Percentage.

Kucherov was awarded a hat trick of trophies after being presented with the Hart Trophy, Ted Lindsay Award and the Art Ross Trophy, while Victor Hedman was named to the NHL All-Star Team.

However, for all of their regular season dominance, the Lightning choked in the playoffs and were swept in the Eastern Conference First Round by the Columbus Blue Jackets, who were superb and outmatched, outthought and outclassed their opponents.

The Blue Jackets outscored the Lightning 19-8 in four games and made the historically dominant team in the NHL regular season look less than ordinary.

TORONTO, ON – OCTOBER 10: Nikita Kucherov #86 of the Tampa Bay Lightning skates against the Toronto Maple Leafs during an NHL game at Scotiabank Arena on October 10, 2019 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Lightning defeated the Maple Leafs 7-3. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON – OCTOBER 10: Nikita Kucherov #86 of the Tampa Bay Lightning skates against the Toronto Maple Leafs during an NHL game at Scotiabank Arena on October 10, 2019 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Lightning defeated the Maple Leafs 7-3. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /

It was a huge shock that reverberated around the NHL and the lingering question remains: Can the Tampa Bay Lightning get it done when it really matters?

After all, they have boasted a ridiculously strong core for years now and their window to win is closing with every single postseason failure this franchise suffers.

There could be hope for 2019-20, however, After adding some interesting depth pieces during the off-season (more on that later), including another former New York Ranger in Kevin Shattenkirk, the Lightning have everything in place to rectify some wrongs this year.

It has been an average start to the year so far with a record of 2-2-1, although they did absolutely beat up on fellow Stanley Cup contender the Toronto Maple Leafs with Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point combining for an 11 point night in a 7-3 win.

A team as super-talented and as loaded as the Tampa Bay Lightning has to produce the goods eventually, and it wouldn’t surprise me if they approach the regular season differently in order to give them an advantage in the postseason.

NEW YORK, NY – FEBRUARY 27: Victor Hedman #77 of the Tampa Bay Lightning skates against Jesper Fast #17 of the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on February 27, 2019 in New York City. The Tampa Bay Lightning won 4-3 in overtime. (Photo by Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY – FEBRUARY 27: Victor Hedman #77 of the Tampa Bay Lightning skates against Jesper Fast #17 of the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on February 27, 2019 in New York City. The Tampa Bay Lightning won 4-3 in overtime. (Photo by Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images) /

Against The Rangers

There were three games between the New York Rangers and the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2018-19, and the Blueshirts were winless in all three.

Tampa won comfortably at Amalie Arena on November 10, emerging as 6-3 victors with Steven Stamkos recording a hat trick and Ryan McDonagh tallying a goal against his former team.

Anthony Cirelli also registered two goals for the Lightning, as did Kevin Hayes for the Rangers, while Jesper Fast also got on the board for New York.

It was a much closer contest when these two teams did battle at Madison Square Garden on February 2nd with Tampa edging a close-fought 3-2 game.

Yanni Gourde, Erik Cernak and Steven Stamkos fired the Lightning into a comfortable 3-0 lead, but efforts from Mats Zuccarello and Kevin Hayes in the second and third periods set up a thrilling finish at MSG.

And Round 3 at MSG later in the month, on February 27, was also a back-and-forth classic although the Rangers couldn’t quite get the job done.

Tyler Johnson and J.T. Miller put the Lightning 2-0 up, Mika Zibanejad pulled one back for the Rangers in the second period before Dan Girardi struck against his old team, although Jimmy Vesey and Boo Nieves came up tops to take the game to Overtime.

However, the Rangers were unable to land the final blow and Victor Hedman produced the goods for Tampa to deliver the Lightning their team-record 10th straight victory and a season sweep of the Blueshirts.

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