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Round one, game one between the Montreal Canadiens and the Tampa Bay Lightning would take overtime to decide. The Lightning continued their struggles with playoff overtime, losing their 12th of their last 13 overtime contests. Game one goes to Montreal, and they lead this best-of-seven series one game to none.

On the eve of the Round One matchup between the Montreal Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lightning, the Bolts are focused on entering this year's Stanley Cup Playoffs with one major thought in mind: Do not repeat the sins of the past three postseasons.

Tye Kartye had two goals and an assist as the New York Rangers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning in the regular season finale, 4-2. Mika Zibanejad added a goal and an assist. Oliver Bjorkstrand and Corey Perry both scored for the Lightning. The loss was their fourth in the last six games as the Lightning struggled to put together consistent play at the conclusion of the season.

Photo Credit: Alyssa Shimko | Thunderstruck Sports Tonight featured a battle between two teams with very little to play for. The Tampa Bay Lightning remain in a battle for home ice advantage in the 2026 playoffs . However, home ice has not been particularly kind to the Bolts over the last several playoff seasons. The Detroit Red Wings, meanwhile, saw their playoff dreams come to an end following their 5-3 loss on Saturday. Nonetheless, both teams took to the ice at Benchmark

Afternoon affair marks the end of the losing streak with a gutsy 2-1 victory in Boston spoiling a playoff berth for the Bruins in the process. Lightning would be without Darren Raddysh and Zemgus Girgensons this afternoon due to undisclosed injuries but are not major injuries. On the bright side, Brandon Hagel finally returned from injury giving the offense a boost. Regardless of the outcome of the final few games, what matters most is that the team has a healthy roster leadi

Riley Gillespie-Wilson | Thunderstruck Sports Graphic Credit: Mike Smith | Thunderstruck Sports Despite a goal to tie the game for Tampa Bay just moments from the buzzer, the Lightning couldn't manage a single point in Montreal. Darren Raddysh had the tying bid, Juraj Slafkovsky the dagger for the home Montreal Canadiens. His goal with just over a minute left sunk the Lightning 2-1 at Bell Centre Thursday night. It's a known fact around the NHL that playoff hockey has a diffe

Photo Credit: Alyssa Shimko | Thunderstruck Sports For a team that just went 8-1-2 over an 11-game stretch, the Tampa Bay Lightning have been declared "hot garbage" with remarkable speed. It's almost impressive! The Lightning came out of a four-game Western road trip with a sparkling 3-0-1 record. They returned home for a lengthy seven-game stretch in which they went 5-1-1, capped off with a victory over the Boston Bruins Saturday after having clinched a playoff berth earlie

As the Tampa Bay Lightning play their last five games of the regular season, having already clinched their playoff spot, Tuesday’s game in Ottawa has some significance. Mostly dealing with the health of their players. For the Ottawa Senators, the significance of this game is quite different. They are currently holding the eighth and final Eastern Conference playoff spot. The second wild card. There are three teams within two points of Ottawa’s 90 points.

A little less than a month ago, the Tampa Bay Lightning met the Buffalo Sabres in a game that became an instant NHL classic. An 8 - 7 win by Buffalo gave them the lead in the Atlantic Division. Today, the Lightning have wrested back that division lead, but with 102 points, they hold a slim 2-point lead over both the Sabres and the Montreal Canadiens as the regular season winds down to the final handful of games.

Brandon Hagel tangles with the Sabres' Ryan McLeod during Tampa Bay's 6-2 loss to Buffalo on February 28th. Photo Credit: Alyssa Shimko | Thunderstruck Sports By Mike Smith | Thunderstruck Sports In Robert Louis Stevenson's classic tale, "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," a scientist creates a potion to separate his good side from his evil impulses. The result is catastrophic, as the main character struggles with his monstrous alter ego and even

There were several potential playoff clinching scenarios for the Tampa Bay Lightning today. The first was one that would happen before the Bolts even took the ice. The Detroit Red Wings took on the Eastern Conference basement dwelling New York Rangers at Madison Square Gardens. A regulation loss for the visiting Red Wings would ensure that they could not surpass the Lightning (or the Sabres) and would thereby clinch a playoff berth for Tampa Bay (and Buffalo). Detroit followe

Anthony Cirelli earned a hat trick, and Zemgus Girgensons scored the game-winning goal as the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night, 6-3. Nikita Kucherov had a goal and two assists. The win placed the Lightning back in a tie for first place with the Buffalo Sabres in the very competitive Atlantic Division.

Jakub Dobes stopped 36 of 37 shots he faced, including all 17 in the third period, to lead the Montreal Canadiens to a 4-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning Tuesday night. Cole Caufield scored the game-winning goal and added an assist.

The Lightning are making a habit of this... and it's a risky one. Slow starts have become part of the equation, but so has their ability to take over late. That pattern held again today, as Tampa Bay leaned on a dominant final forty minutes, a three-point night from Jake Guentzel, and a steady performance from Jonas Johansson to defeat the Nashville Predators 3-2. With the win, the Bolts extended their point streak to eight games and climbed back into the top spot in the Atla

The standings may shape the bracket, but Lightning history says they do not decide the spring. I am not losing sleep over where the Tampa Bay Lightning sit right now, and neither should anyone else. If this franchise has taught its fans anything, it should be this: Regular-season position means nothing once the playoffs begin.

The Lightning fought back to overcome another case of early start woes and beat the Ottawa Senators by a 4-2 final. The Bolts found themselves down 2-0 under five minutes into this one. They faced an uphill climb with Nick Paul and Nikita Kucherov out due to illness. Thankfully, defensemen Emil Lilleberg and Charle-Edouard D'Astous stepped up and led the comeback to put Tampa Bay back into first place in the Atlantic division (for now, as the Sabres play tonight).

The 2025-26 NHL campaign has been a rollercoaster of highs, lows, injuries, and everything in between for the Tampa Bay Lightning blueline. It's been the same story, unfortunately, for a key component of not only the back-end, but the locker room, city, and community. Victor Hedman has played in just 33 of the Bolts' 71 games.

Brandon Montour scored the game-winning goal in overtime as the Seattle Kraken beat the Tampa Bay Lightning Thursday night, 4-3. Montour had two goals total, while Kaapo Kakko and Bobby McMann had a goal and an assist each.

For all their star power, The Tampa Bay Lightning's success has never been just about their biggest names. It's getting just the right mix of superstars and players who do the hard, often unnoticed work – winning battles, forechecking, and not shying away from the greasy goals. Over the past few weeks, Gage Goncalves has stepped up to be one of those players for the Bolts.

Erik Cernak scored the game-winning goal with less than four minutes to play, and Darren Raddysh had a goal and two assists as the Tampa Bay Lightning fought back from a two-goal deficit twice to beat the Minnesota Wild, 6-3.