Time To Give Prospects a Chance & Continued Struggles Against the Maple Leafs
Welcome to the THW Tampa Bay Lightning Substack newsletter, with all the latest from our team of Lightning writers.
In today’s edition, we have reasons why the Lightning need to give prospects a chance over veterans, continued struggles against the Maple Leafs, and more.
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Lightning Should Swap Out Cheap Veterans for Prospects
November 13, 2023 by Jim Bay
It’s beginning to be a familiar pattern. While the Tampa Bay Lightning have played well at times in the early part of the season, there have also been times when lackluster play during stretches in games has led to losses that leave people scratching their heads. The latest one came when the Lightning fell to the Chicago Blackhawks at home on Thursday (Nov. 9). Preceding their victory in Montreal on Nov. 7, the Lightning failed to hold on to another lead against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Nov. 6 and fell in overtime.
This once again led to familiar post-game comments from head coach Jon Cooper. “Just egregious turnovers, lack of execution. In the end, we just gave them freebies. This is a tough league to win in if you’re just going to continue to do that. If there was one disappointing part to the game, it was our lack of pushback in the last two periods. That was tough.”
Lightning Continue to Struggle Against Maple Leafs
November 12, 2023 by Joel Enns
If you were to poll fans of the Tampa Bay Lightning on which team they considered to be Tampa’s top rival three years ago, the answer would have unanimously been the Boston Bruins. Today, that might still be the top answer, but it certainly would not be unanimous anymore.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have become a serious thorn in the side of the Lightning, and their inability to beat them is becoming a massive headache for the Tampa faithful. In the 2021-22 season, when they made it to their third consecutive Stanley Cup Final, they played a close series against Toronto in the first round. They had a losing record against them in the regular season last year before falling in six games in the playoffs, and now they are off to a 0-2 start this season. The Lightning have a problem on their hands.
Tampa Bay Lightning Don’t Need to Panic Just Yet
November 6, 2023 by Joel Enns
The Tampa Bay Lightning are not off to the start that they had hoped for. Crushing overtime losses and some low-effort performances have already left them in a hole that they are going to have to try to claw out of. Even if the situation is not dire yet, this is not an enviable position to be in. Slow starts are nothing new to Tampa Bay, though. In 2021, they were 4-3-1 in October.
Last season, they were 5-4-0 in October. Both of those teams made the playoffs, and one of them made it all the way to the Stanley Cup Final. Tampa does not need to hit the panic button quite yet. There is time to make adjustments and get back on track. It is easy to forget, but it is only November, and there is a lot of hockey yet to be played.