Reasons the Lightning Are in a 3-0 Hole to the Panthers – The Hockey Writers – Tampa Bay Lightning

It is not easy for me to write this article. The Tampa Bay Lightning are down 3-0 against the Florida Panthers in the first round, and, call me pessimistic, but I have a sinking feeling a sweep is imminent. The Panthers deserve all the credit that can be given because they look like a Stanley Cup contender — the team is simply built for postseason success. The Lightning, however, have not done themselves any favors.

Sure, there have been flashes of resiliency and tantalizing stretches that make you think this is the same Lightning team that won back-to-back Stanley Cups. Clearly, it is not. These four takeaways from the series so far showcase how the Lightning find themselves in a deep, deep hole.

Lack of Experience and Depth on Defense

General manager Julien BriseBois knew he needed to bolster the defensive core after Mikhail Sergachev sustained a season-ending injury in February. He acquired veteran Matt Dumba from the Arizona Coyotes who seemed to inject stability into a lineup that had been hemorrhaging defensemen.

But playoff hockey is a different beast altogether than the regular season, and Dumba’s presence is simply not enough to make up for the Lightning’s shallow, untested blue line.

Six defensemen dressed for the Lightning on Thursday night: Victor Hedman, Eric Cernak, Matt Dumba, Darren Raddysh, Nick Perbix, and Emil Lilleberg. Hedman has played 163 playoff games. The other five defensemen have played 149 games combined. You read that correctly. They have played 14 fewer games than Hedman. Furthermore, three of these players—Raddysh, Perbix, and Lilleberg—have played fewer than 10 playoff games.

The Lightning defensemen do not stack up to the Panthers’. The Cats do not have a defensemen with as many as miles as Hedman (Brandon Montour leads with 61 postseason games), but they also do not have any players as green as the Lightning. Every player on the Panthers’ blue line has at least 25 playoff games under his belt. Of course, a large chunk of those came from the team’s run to the Stanley Cup Final last season, but those are games that season players and prepare them for another, and hopefully more successful, postseason.