It’s a good time to be a sports fan in Tampa Bay right now. The Lightning are the defending Stanley Cup champions, the Buccaneers are headed to the Super Bowl next month and the Rays even made it to the World Series.
Goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy will lead the Lighting again this year.
Tampa Bay Lightning were early favourites during the 2019-20 NHL season and did not disappoint despite the disruption.
This season they are expected to face a much sterner test, with the star-studded Vegas Golden Knights currently the sportsbooks’ favourites, with odds of 13/2 currently at Bet365. They are followed by the Colorado Avalanche at 7/1 before the defending champions are listed as 15/2 third favourites.
The Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins shouldn’t be overlooked at this stage but we’re only a handful of weeks into the new season – there’s a long way to go!
2020 Stanley Cup
Last season, Jon Cooper’s side finished second in the Eastern Conference and were largely dominant throughout the post-season – beating the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-1 in the First Round, before demolishing the Boston Bruins by the same series score in the Second Round.
The New Islanders were no match for the Lightning in the Eastern Conference Finals as the Tampa Bay team went up 2-0 in the series before seeing it out 4-2 to advance to the Stanley Cup back in September.
Despite a surprise defeat at home to the Dallas Stars in their opening game, Andrei Vasilevskiy and co reeled off three successive victories before taking the series 4-2 to bring home the trophy for only the second time in their history (also 2004). Brayden Point and Blake Coleman scoring the goals in game six.
Positive Start to 2021
The 2020-21 campaign has had a disrupted start for the defending champions but on the ice they look just fine, with comfortable 5-1 and 5-2 victories over the Chicago Blackhawks. They have gone 1-1 since either side of postponed games but are due to finish January against at Carolina and then home to the Nashville Predators.
During their opening four games, Lightning have reeled off an impressive 15 goals, one of the best goals per game rations in the opening weeks of the season.
They continue to fire on all cylinders despite the absence of winger Nikita Kucherov, one of the stars of the NHL. The Russian tied an NHL record only two seasons ago for the most assists by a winger (with Jaromír Jágr – 87).
Will Lightning Retain?
Provided they remain healthy, the likes of Victor Hedman, goaltender Vasilevskiy and Center Steven Stamkos will be expected to go far in the post-season, if not repeat their championship success from only a few months ago.
Tampa Bay have been there or thereabouts in most of the past six seasons – starting with their 2-4 loss in the 2015 Stanley Cup to the Chicago Blackhawks and losing in the Conference Finals to the Pittsburgh Penguins the following year.
Jon Cooper has managed to retain the majority of his roster that he led to glory back in September 2020, whilst also adding some more depth.
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