Lightning fall once again: What happened?

After a highly anticipated battle against the Florida Panthers in the first round of the NHL playoffs, the Tampa Bay Lightning fell in a mere five games. Their loss in the first round of the NHL playoffs marks the third straight year in which the team has failed to advance to the second round. With their early exit once again, bolts fans are all asking the same question: "What happened to the fearless back-to-back champions?"

Fuel

In the NHL playoffs, momentum and endurance are the foundation of any successful playoff run. For the Lightning, momentum and endurance were rarely found. While game three of the series was the picture perfect game for the Lightning, the rest of the series mostly swung in favor of the team from South Florida. Momentum in the NHL playoffs can best be described with sailing. If the wind is strong, a boat will cross the seven seas without a care in the world. Should the winds be weak or fickle, have fun traversing the ocean! In the current instance, the Lightning purely did not have enough wind in their favor to push four wins against a deadly Panthers roster.

Amidst all the noise, the Lightning were not able to maintain a consistent performance. Lightning fans saw flashes of competitiveness and retaliation from the Bolts. However when it was all said and done, Tampa simply could not keep up with a Panthers team hungry to return to the Stanley Cup finals. Once a team has captured wind in the playoffs, it becomes a game of who can maintain it the best. Here, the Panthers kept the wind beneath their sails to cruise steadily into the second round.

Physicality

Entering into the first round of the playoffs, the 2024-2025 regular season Tampa Bay Lighting were ranked 29th in the NHL in hits given category as compared to the Panthers who led the NHL in hits given as per Moneypuck.com. To make matters worse, Moneypuck.com lists the Lightning as being fourth in the NHL for most hits taken category during the regular season. 

The Panthers are an extremely physical hockey team as clearly debuted for all Lightning fans to see. An aggressive Panthers team showed all their might and certainly did not hold back. Even with the trade deadline addition of Yanni Gourde to add toughness to the roster, the Lightning could not keep up. 

Outplayed

While hockey fans could easily sit and create excuses for why the Lightning were bounced from the playoffs, the Lightning, simply put, were outplayed for the majority of the series. There were moments where the Lightning beat themselves, but overall the Panthers outplayed the Bolts.

Lightning stars like Brayden Point, Brandon Hagel, and Andrei Vasilevskiy had tough stats to show for their efforts as per ESPN. ESPN lists a majority of the roster as having a negative or neutral +/- category. Despite their play this playoffs, the caliber of Lightning's core is still one of the best in the National Hockey League. Moving forward into the offseason, the Lightning need to ask a lot of questions of themselves if they wish to return to the Stanley Cup finals.

Now what?

Many hockey fans were left scratching their heads thinking, “What happened to the Lightning?” Truth be told, Julien Brisebois, general manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning, must be asking himself the same question. Throughout the course of the offseason, Brisebois should be working with his team to anaylze weaknesses in the roster. Brisebois is known to be resilient in the face of adversity as noted by his previous track record. He is not afraid to be bold and aggressive in making a decision for the fate of his hockey club. Be on the lookout for Brisebois to be active during the offseason. 

It may be easy to write off the Lightning during a time such as this one, but there is hope. Tampa still is in a favorable spot and their core is looking set to return next year. Despite the tough performance from some of the Lightning’s most beloved players, they will aim to return with fire in their eyes for next year. Expect a storm to be brewing within the roster during the offseason so when the puck drops once again in October, the Lightning will be ready to strike.