If someone would’ve asked me 2 months ago where the Tampa Bay Lightning would be at this point in time, I would've said they'd be teeing off for another round at the good ole’ golf course. Inconsistencies remained, injuries plagued them, and organizational disputes continually lingered in-between players and team management. Nobody believed in them. Nobody believed they’d even make it past the first round of the playoffs; but they had faith in each other. Now, here we stand- mid-May- as the Bolts prepare to play in their second consecutive Eastern Conference Final.
Last year’s run to the Final served as a major step in the right direction. The summer of 2015 was good to the Lightning and their fan base. Last years team played with more consistency throughout the regular season, and much of their roster remained in tact and healthy. They started the playoffs in an up-and-down series with the Detroit Red Wings. Many labeled them the team of “inexperience” or the team that would need to learn how to win in the playoffs “on the fly”; this was because a majority of the teams’ roster was young and needed to mature in order to be a legitimate contender. Even when it appeared at times they’d lose, they stuck with their gameplan. They beat the Wings in 7 games, moving on to play the Montreal Canadiens in Round two. They felt as though they had something to prove against this team, given the Canadiens had swept them in their previous playoff series: and they did. They beat Montreal, convincingly, in 6 games. Next up came the New York Rangers: a team that was hungry to get back to the Finals a year after losing it to the Los Angeles Kings. Tampa came in as the underdog. Even though most experts picked the Rangers to win, the Lightning believed in their gameplan, and they believed in themselves. It came down to a 7th game in Madison Square Garden, where the Rangers were seemingly invincible. Up until that point, the Rangers had won 6 consecutive game 7’s in the playoffs. Even when the odds stacked up against the Bolts, it didn’t phase them: they shocked New York and won that game to move on to play for the Stanely Cup. They were confident and ready to face their toughest test yet: the Chicago Blackhawks. Though Tampa gave Chicago everything they could handle, the experienced Blackhawks still proved to be the more resilient team. Chicago won the Cup in 6 games, and Tampa was left with a feeling of complete emptiness. To come all that way, to taste victory but never achieve it, left a bitter-sweet taste that would have them questioning themselves going into the offseason.
Heading into this year, it seemed the climb to the top of the NHL mountain would be even tougher. It appeared as though they hadn’t moved past their loss in the finals, as they couldn’t quite recapture their swagger. Even once they did at times, it was hard for them to maintain it. Then came the news of a young Jonathan Drouin and his problems with the organization, which didn’t serve as much of a blow to them as losing one of their top defenseman in Anton Stralman for the season and their beloved captian Steven Stamkos for 1-3 months. It wasn’t turning out to be the kind of year Tampa was hoping for.
Many teams would have given into the “you can’t win now” rhetoric; but not the Lightning. If anything, they were ready to rally behind this adversity and each other as a group. And they did just that. Because of the injury to Stamkos, the Lighting were forced to call Drouin up from the minors. This was his chance to prove to the organization that he was the player they thought he was.
Tampa faced the Red wings again in the first round of these playoffs and won in 5 games. Then after losing game 1 of the second round to the New York Islanders, they won 4 straight to win the series in 5 games. Not only had they proven to themselves and the world that they could win without star players, but they were ready to make an even bigger statement: last year was no fluke. This was no longer the team of inexperience; this is the team of most resistance. The once too-young-to-win Lightning have matured into the savvy veterans that “lean on past experiences” to get the job done. Guys like Tyler Johnson, Alex Killorn, Nikita Kucherov, and many more have elevated their game to an even higher level when it was needed most. It’s an all around effort now; everyone needs to contribute. They no longer care about what happened in last years playoffs; thats history. Its all about now. They can taste victory again.
The script couldn’t have been set for an ending any better. Now its theirs for the taking. The only thing standing in the way of themselves and a return to the Stanley Cup Final is the Pittsburgh Penguins: the NHL’s hottest team since the month of December. It will be (by far) their toughest test of this season, but they’ll be prepared. Coach Jon Cooper will have them ready and waiting. They know their not the team from last year: they’re even better. It will be tough, it will be grinding, and it will be close; but if this group hasn’t already shown the hockey world of their incredible resiliency, I guess they’ll just need to try and show it once more. They're ready to write a new chapter in their legacy.
