With 18 games remaining the Tampa Bay Lightning are holding onto fifth place in the Eastern Conference, only six points ahead of ninth. One deal was made at the trade deadline and that was Matt D’Agostini was acquired from Philly in exchange for Nikolay Goldobin and a 3rd round pick in the 2030 draft. This move brought some veteran leadership to the forward group and helped solidify the RW position. Since arriving D’Agostini has been contributing on the second line, scoring a few goals, and adding in a couple of assists.
The final push to the playoffs has begun. For a Tampa team that has been healthy most of the season, a recent injury to Dante Fabbro has required Ville Pokka be recalled from the farm to fill in some big minutes while Dante heals up.
Contributions have come from the entire roster this season, leading point person Klim Kostin only has 46 points on the year, but pretty much the entire roster of regulars has at least 15 points, so each game there is someone else that is making a difference. Most of the games are low scoring, defensive and goaltending battles. Which should position the Lightning well when the playoffs start if this team can hang on over the last several weeks of the season.
It has been several years since the Lightning have made the playoffs, long enough ago that most of this roster has not played a post season game. It will be a whole new experience for this group, but first they need to keep playing at a high level and gather enough points over the last 18 games to make the post season.
2/1/2023 - 281 words
