Raw Charge
The static cling that brings Tampa Bay Lightning fans together.
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Lightning wrap up February with important division game: Sabres at Lightning preview
Game Fifty-Eight: Buffalo Sabres (34-19-6) at Tampa Bay Lightning (38-15-4) Time: 7:00 PM EST Location: Benchmark International Arena, First event hosted there – Royal Hanneford Circus TV/Stream/Radio: The Spot, MSG-B ESPN+, 102.5 FM, Lightning App Odds: Lightning -238 Know the Opponents: Die By the Blade Unlike their game against the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday, the Tampa Bay Lightning are the beneficiaries of the compressed schedule tonight as they take on a...
Lightning Morning News: It’s Hall of Fame night in Syracuse
The Syracuse Crunch are hosting the Laval Rocket at Upstate Medical University Arena tonight in what could be a pivitol game in the division standings. It’s also Hall of Fame night for the Crunch. Prior to the game a ceremony will be held for the newest inductees: Gabriel Dumont, Mike Angelides, Zenon Kenopka, and George McPhee. Dumont retired last season as the Crunch’s longest-serving captain in franchise history. The two-time AHL All-Star played in 747 career games which is tied for 60...
Pierre LeBrun names Lightning as a possible landing spot for Steven Stamkos
Let’s start this off by stating the chances of Steven Stamkos ending up in Tampa between now and next Friday are extremely low. If we were betting people, we would put it at a 17.5% chance, but it’s an off day, it’s the height of trade deadline craziness, and you’re probably bored at work on a Friday, so why not spend a few minutes diving a little deeper into a Stamkosian reunion. [Ed. Note. After this was published Steven Stamkos himself clarified the situation by stating that there was ...
Lightning Morning News: Winning streak ends in Carolina
It was a tough night for goaltenders and public address announcers in Raleigh last night as the two teams combined for nine goals. For the Lightning, who were on the wrong end of the 5-3 score, it meant an end to their latest winning streak. After six victories, the Bolts were on the losing side for just the third time in 2026. During the winning streak they scored 25 goals while allowing just 12 (and 5 of those came in one game) with Nikita Kucherov (who else) leading the way. The winger...
Lightning fall behind early, rally, eventually lose 5-4 to Hurricanes
For a red-hot moment, it looked like the Tampa Bay Lightning were going to duplicate their 6-4 win over the Carolina Hurricanes from back in December. They went down 3-0 before rallying back to tie it. Then they gave up a fourth goal before tying it. Unfortunately, they couldn’t find the fifth goal before the Hurricanes did and Sebastian Aho’s power play goal in the third period proved to be in the difference in the 5-4 win for the Hurricanes. “We allowed them to get behind us,” is how Ro...
Will the emergence of Dominic James cost a veteran a roster spot?
There have been a lot of factors contributing to the success of the Tampa Bay Lightning this season. Andrei Vasilevskiy is putting up a Vezina-like performance. Nikita Kucherov is collecting multi-point games like Pokemon. One of the differences between this year and previous ones is the amount of unexpected players that have stepped up when injuries have forced them into a bigger role. Darren Raddysh elevating his game to new levels, Charle-Edouard D’Astous becoming a one-man breakout machine...
No rest for the weary: Lightning at Carolina Preview
Game Fifty-Seven: Tampa Bay Lightning (38-14-4) at Carolina Hurricanes (36-15-6) Time: 7:00 PM EST Location: Lenovo Center, 19 minutes from where Nuke Laloosh pitched to Crash Davis TV/Stream/Radio: The Spot, FDSNSO, ESPN+, 102.5 FM, Lightning App Odds: Lightning +130 Know the Opponents: Canes Country The Tampa Bay Lightning did what they had to do against the Toronto Maple Leafs and picked up a 4-2 victory on Wednesday night. Now, it’s on to Carolina to meet a we...
Lightning Morning News: Congratulations on 700 assists, Nikita Kucherov
The Tampa Bay Lightning’s talented winger continued his assault on the record books as he became the first member of the organization to eclipse the 700 assist mark. Just for fun, he got started on the next milestone as he added his 701st later in the game. As with every helper he racks up, he sets a new franchise record in assists, and he continues to creep closer to Steven Stamkos’ record of 1,137 points overall (Kucherov sits at 1,088). With 701 apples he is currently tied all-time wit...
Kucherov records 700th assist in 4-2 Lightning win over Maple Leafs
Welcome back, Brayden Point (2 goals, 1 assist). Welcome back, Charle-Edouard D’Astous (2 assists). Welcome back, Tampa Bay Lightning hockey. The Lightning returned to the ice from the Olympic break with a 4-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs, spearheaded by a two-goal performance from Brayden Point, who had been out of the line-up since suffering a lower-body injury in mid-January against Philadelphia. Nikita Kucherov also posted a three-point night which included his 700th car...
Checking in on Lightning prospects – Part Two
After yesterday’s check-in on the first half of the Lightning’s Top 25 Under 25 for 2025 there are thirteen spots left. Thanks to a trade and some waiver activity, there are only ten players left to take a look at. Roman Schmidt (#12), Niko Huutannen (#9), and Jack Finley (#4) are all now in other organizations. Still, some pretty good names are left, so let’s take a look at how they’re doing this season. 13 Dyllan Gill – Orlando Solar Bears – ECHL 46 games, 2 goals, 9 assists ...
Hitting the ground running: Maple Leafs at Lightning Preview
Game Fifty-Six: Toronto Maple Leafs (27-21-9) at Tampa Bay Lightning (37-14-4) Time: 7:30 PM EST Location: Benchmark International Arena, Home of Gold Medalist Jake Guentzel TV/Stream/Radio: TNT/ HBO Max/ Tru TV, 102.5 FM, Lightning App (audio) Odds: Lightning -230 Know the Opponents: Pension Plan Puppets Twenty-seven games in the next fifty days. Buckle up Bolts’ fans, there is about to be a lot, and we mean, a lot of hockey. Fresh off of the Olympic break, the T...
Lightning Morning News: Victor Hedman highlights returning Lightning players
After talking about the “dream come true” of playing in the Olympics, Tampa Bay Lightning captain Victor Hedman spoke to reporters about returning to action. He confirmed that he is good to go as the team returns to action against the Toronto Maple Leafs tonight. Assistant Coach Rob Zettler also confirmed that all of the Olympic players will be playing and that Emil Lilleberg and Charle-Edouard D’Astous should be ready to go. Even with Max Crozier out and Nick Paul likely out, this may be...
Checking in on the Lightning prospects – Part One
While it might feel like we just wrapped up this countdown (because it’s true) it seems like a good time to revisit the Top 25 Under 25 just to see how the kids are doing. With the trade deadlines in the rearview mirror for the Canadian Hockey League, and the college hockey teams starting to wind down their regular seasons it’s a good time to see how things are shaping up for the prospects. Today, we’ll tackle the bottom half of the list (which contains a couple of players that might be t...
Lightning Morning News: Getting back to work
Well, all the fun is over. The Stadium Series Game. The Olympics. The glorious Olympic Break. Now it’s time to get back to the grind of making the playoffs and competing for the Stanley Cup. The good news is that, standings-wise, the Tampa Bay Lightning are in pretty good shape. The bad news is that they can’t seem to shake the injury bug. As play is set to resume, the Lightning sit atop the Atlantic Division with 78 points, a six-point edge over second-place Montreal. More importantly, t...
Lightning Morning News: Guentzel is Golden.
Jake Guentzel may not have had the biggest impact on the stat sheet, but he has the ultimate bragging rights in the locker room as he was part of Team USA’s historic win in Milan. Guentzel comes back to Tampa with the gold medal as the Americans defeated Team Canada in overtime, 2-1, on Jack Hughes’ goal less than two minutes into the bonus session. Forty-six years to the day of the Miracle on Ice, the United States pulled off the win. It wasn’t quite a “Do you believe in miracles?” level...
Jake vs. Hags for Gold – Men’s Olympic Gold Medal Game
It’s time for the ultimate locker room bragging rights as Jake Guentzel and his USA teammates take on Brandon Hagel and Team Canada for the gold medal in hockey. The two powerhouses didn’t disappoint as they bring perfect records into the gold medal game with Canada coming back from a 2-0 deficit to beat Finland 3-2 and the Americans blowing open a close game against Slovakia with three second period goal on the way to a 6-2 final. Finland took the bronze medal on Saturday with a 6-1 win ...
Lightning Morning News: USA Clinches Gold
It took overtime, but Megan Keller’s overtime goal proved to be golden as Team USA took down Canada , 2-1, in the women’s gold medal game at the Olympics. Unlike the 5-0 blowout in the preliminary rounds, the two hockey powerhouses battled all game long with Canada taking the early lead on a Kristin O’Neill short-handed goal. Hilary Knight, playing in her final Olympic game, dialed up the heroics as she scored with just over two minutes to go in the game and the American net empty. That s...
Lightning Morning News: The Bolts are back (on the ice)
While the pressure is ramping up in Milan for the four teams left in the Olympic tournament, things are starting to wind back up in Tampa (well, Brandon to be exact). The Tampa Bay Lightning were back on the ice on Wednesday as practice resumed for the players not over in Italy. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Tampa Bay Lightning (@tblightning) It’s good to see Charle-Edouard D’Astous in a regular sweater based on some of the news from yesterday in regards to so...
Max Crozier and Victor Hedman add to injury woes on the Lightning blueline
The day started out pretty nice. It was in the mid-70s in the Tampa Bay area with a bright blue sky and a light breeze stirring the fronds of the palm trees. The type of day Northerners relish as they descend upon the beaches to escape the bitter cold back home. Even better, the Lightning were back on the ice. Over at the practice facility in Brandon, the non-Olympic players were practicing as they prepared to return to NHL action. Then things took a turn for the worse. First the Lightnin...
Lightning Morning News: Welcome to the Quarterfinals
The quarterfinals are all set and there are some intriguing match-ups as teams look to push through to the semifinals and a chance to reach the medal round. We mentioned the first two wins in yesterday’s post as Germany and Switzerland advanced. Czechia held off Denmark as Oliver Bjorkstrand became the first member of the Lightning to see his gold medal dreams dashed. Sweden handled Latvia with ease to set up a date with the United States. So today’s games are: Slovakia vs. German – ...
Lightning Morning News: Moser and Stachowiak advance to quarter finals
In early Tuesday action over in Milan Switzerland defeated Italy 3-0 and Germany ended France’s run in the Olympics. Both outcomes were expected and the two victors will move on to the quarter-final round. J.J. Moser was held off the scoreboard, but registered two shots in his 17:38 of action. Meanwhile, Wojciech Stachowiak was a healthy scratch in Germany’s 5-1 victory over France. The lone goal by the French was scored by old friend Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, who announced his retirement...
Lightning Morning News: The Knockout Round is Set
Well folks, the fun part is over. From here on out, it’s win or go home at the Olympics. Sunday night, Team USA closed out the preliminary round with a 5-1 victory over Germany. The win helped them to the second seed with Canada taking the number one position. Now that the round is over let’s check out the updated Tampa Bay Lightning standings (now with Erik Cernak!) Player Games Goals Assists Wins WALT* J.J. Moser 3 1 3 1 0 Victor Hedman 3 1 1 2 1 Zemgus Girgensons 3 0 4 1 1 Wojciech Sta...
Lightning Evening News: Checking in on the Olympics
The men’s Olympic hockey tournament is fully underway over in Milan with each country having completed at least once. While things got off to a bit of a shocking start as Slovakia upset Finland and Italy gave Sweden all they could handle, the second day of hockey went chalk as Switzerland took down France 4-0, Canada took out Czechia 5-0, the United Stated upended Latvia 5-1 with Zemgus thinking the Latvians just made too many mistakes , and Germany took out Denmark 3-1. Friday’s action w...
Lightning Round: Men’s Olympic Hockey gets underway and other notes from around the sport
The long-awaited return of NHL hockey to the Winter Olympics finally gets underway today as the mens portion of the tournament begins with Finland hosting Slovakia at 10:40 AM EST. That is followed up by Sweden versus Italy at 3:10 PM EST. No injury was going to keep Victor Hedman from his first Olympics [ Tampa Bay Times ] After being snubbed in 2014, Victor Hedman had his heart set on making it to the Olympics this year. He wasn’t going to let something as trifling as an elbow...
Lightning’s long and successful road trip, a look back at January
The Tampa Bay Lightning’s strong finish to 2025 rolled right into 2026 as they kept piling up the wins and those sweet, sweet Marriott Bonvoy points as they spent a grand portion of the month away from Benchmark International Arena. Nine of their thirteen games were on the road, and two of their trips back home were for single-game home stands. Despite the travel, they managed to keep piling up the points, dropping the full two points only once all month long. As Coach Jon Cooper pointed ...
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