With three Stanley Cup Finals appearances in the last four years, including two championships, the Tampa Bay Lightning are used to playoff success. But after settling for a Wild Card spot and a slow start to its playoff season, the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs won’t be so easy for Tampa Bay.
The Lightning will have to fight through some adversity in order to replicate its past playoff success. Here is a look at some of the players that Tampa needs to make that happen.
Anthony Cirelli
Cirelli has been with the Lightning for several years and has been a part of Tampa’s two championships. However, he’s played some of his best hockey during the second half of the current campaign. Cirelli has always been a forward who’s well known for doing the dirty work on defense. But he also set a career-high in both goals and points during the 2023-24 season.
That makes Cirelli the type of player who contributes at both ends of the ice and will be asked to log a lot of minutes during the playoffs. Of course, since he’s going to be on the ice a lot, the Lightning needs Cirelli to keep producing.
Anthony Duclair
Acquiring Duclair from the rival Panthers in March has turned out to be a stroke of genius by Tampa’s front office. He immediately went on an eight-game points streak with his new team, helping the Lightning go 7-0-1 during that stretch. In other words, when Duclair is playing well, the odds are favorable that Tampa is going to win. Of course, the Lightning lost Game 1 to the Panthers when Duclair failed to register a shot on goal. He’s one of Tampa’s biggest barometers for success. If he doesn’t show up against his former team, the Lighting will struggle to get past the Panthers. But if Duclair can step it up, especially on the power play, he can be a catalyst for a deep playoff run.
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Nick Perbix
Among Tampa’s defensemen, Perbix has a chance to be an X-factor in the postseason. This is just his second season with the Lightning, so he hasn’t been around for the team’s previous Stanley Cup Finals appearances. If he can overcome that lack of experience, Perbix can be a big part of Tampa’s defense. He’s been the best player on the roster at blocking shots and disturbing the opposing team’s attack. That figures to make Perbix a key for the Lightning whenever they get a lead and need to close out a game.
Darren Raddysh
Much like Perbix, Raddysh is another young defenseman who is coming off his first full season in the NHL. It’s obvious that he’s grown by leaps and bounds this season, becoming one of Tampa’s best playmakers among the team’s defensemen. The caveat is that Raddysh is still showing some inexperience on the defensive end. Late in the season, he made some sloppy mistakes that cost the Lightning valuable points. Tampa needs him to be a reliable part of their defense; otherwise, his mistakes could prevent the Lightning from surviving deep into the playoffs.
Andrei Vasilevskiy
As usual, there’s no question that Vasilevskiy is key to a deep playoff run. He’s been a catalyst for the Lightning when they won the Stanley Cup in 2020 and 2021 and he continues to be the type of goalie who can carry a team on his back. However, during the early part of the playoffs, it’s clear that Vasilevskiy can’t do it on his own. The Lightning will need other players to step up and be at their best. That’s why Vasilevskiy is only part of the equation when it comes to the Lightning making another deep run in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
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