The classic idiom, ‘Eyes on the prize’ fits the current mentality of those hard at work inside the Tampa Bay Lightning locker room.
April is officially here, and the 2024-25 NHL regular season schedule is quickly dwindling. The Lightning have nine games left on their calendar before the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs open just over three weeks from today.
The number of games is lessening, while the intensity seems to rise daily as the Lightning gun for the top spot in the Atlantic Division. Tampa Bay sat second in the division on Tuesday morning, tied with the Florida Panthers at 91 standings points apiece.
The Toronto Maple Leafs currently hold first place with 94 points but have played one more game than the Lightning and Panthers. That top spot is within reach for the Lightning, who remain focused on playing their best game as they chase a playoff berth and possibly a division title.
"You never know when you're going to clinch or if we're going to clinch. The numbers say our chances are fairly good that we're going to get in, but to me, when you start worrying about what other teams are doing, you're really losing your focus on what your team should be doing,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said Monday.
“And to me that's been a priority. Don't worry about that. Worry about us, and all that other stuff will take care of itself. Wherever we land, we land, and we'll be ready for whoever that is.”
Tampa Bay opens a four-game road trip on Tuesday against the New York Islanders at UBS Arena three days after taking a 5-3 home win over the Islanders.
The road trip, which includes a Thursday stop against divisional opponent Ottawa, will see a Saturday game against the Buffalo Sabres before ending on Monday, April 7 against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.
Ottawa holds the top wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference entering Tuesday with 84 points, while the Rangers are one of five teams fighting for the final playoff spot as the second wildcard.
The Lightning could clinch their eighth consecutive postseason berth during their final extended road trip of the season this week.
"I think we need two more wins to clinch, and we want to do that obviously as soon as we can,” Lightning captain Victor Hedman said. “But the sooner we do it, the more wins we have and the better the spot we have for trying to finish first. We've got nine games left, super important games, all of them. We're not focusing too much on what's going on around the league, but we know if we win most of the games, we have a good chance.”
Hedman acknowledged that the Atlantic Division is “stacked” this season before echoing Cooper’s comments on the Lightning focusing on what they can control in their own locker room instead of other teams.
With a solid 27-8-2 record at AMALIE Arena, the Lightning hope to earn home ice advantage, which leans to the team that places highest in the regular season standings across the opening two rounds of the playoffs.
"We've obviously seen Toronto and Florida for many years in a row, and it doesn't really matter who's on the other side, but at the end of the day we want to get home ice,” Hedman said. “We've shown all year how good we are playing at home, so that's the main goal is to try and finish in one of those spots.”
To do that, the Lightning will look to build on their recent three-game homestand, one the Lightning finished a perfect 3-0-0.
Tampa Bay hasn’t yet officially punched their playoff ticket, but the focus on sharpening their game in this final regular season push is there.
“Just keep momentum going, playing good hockey,” forward Oliver Bjorkstrand said of the regular season amping toward the playoffs. “You want to be competitive, play hard, really play the right way. You know playoffs is another level, so you want to match that now and just mentally get ready for those moments.”
“It’s playing defense, it’s playing the right way, playing a team game. This team can do it, so we’ve just got to be focused.”
