For the second time in three years, hockey fans in the Sunshine State witnessed a postseason showdown between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Florida Panthers. However, this year’s outcome differed significantly from their encounter two years ago in 2022. The Panthers are advancing to the second round after securing four out of five games against the Lightning, who have now suffered consecutive Round 1 exits in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

And thanks to another early exit, there are far more questions than answers right now for the Lightning, many of whom feel their championship window is rapidly closing. There’s also the issue of whether or not team captain and franchise cornerstone Steven Stamkos, a pending free agent, will be back with the club next season.

Until then, let’s look at the members of this season’s edition of the Lightning who are most to blame for being bounced out of the Stanley Cup Playoffs so early yet again.

The opposing goaltender once again outplayed Andrei Vasilevskiy

For the second consecutive season, goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy found himself outperformed by a Russian counterpart. Last year, he was surpassed by Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Ilya Samsonov. This season, he was outmatched by Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky. This also marks the second occasion that Bobrovsky has prevailed over Vasilevskiy, harkening back to the remarkable 2019 sweep when the former was with the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The normally stingy goaltender and former Conn Smythe Trophy winner was once again painfully average in the postseason for the Lightning with a 3.22 goals-against average and .897 save percentage after surrendering 16 goals on the 156 shots from the Panthers that he faced.

Perhaps even more concerning is the fact that the 2023-24 regular season, of which he missed the first quarter due to injury, was the poorest statistical output of his career.

While there are still only a handful of goaltenders in the NHL whom most clubs would prefer to be able to boast between the pipes, some may wonder if Vasilevskiy is beginning to display signs of wear and tear and if his prime years could be behind him.

Power-play power outage 

The top-ranked power play during the regular season proved surprisingly inefficient during the postseason, managing to convert at a pedestrian rate of 20% through the five games against the Panthers, a far cry from the impressive conversion rate of 28.6% during the regular season. Game 3 was particularly frustrating for the Lightning, as they failed to capitalize on four separate man-advantage opportunities in the setback that pushed them to the brink of elimination.

Head coach Jon Cooper alluded to their failures on special teams as being a major reason why they found themselves in the precarious position of trailing in the series against their in-state rivals.

“We’ve had a couple of (power-play goals) in the series, but if you’re going to give us eight minutes, we’ve got to do something with it,” Cooper said after Game 3. “And we didn’t. And in a one-goal game (before Matthew Tkachuk’s late empty-netter), that might have helped us out.”

Even more frustrating for the Lightning was last night’s decisive loss in Game 5, during which they had a pair of power play opportunities in the first 10 minutes of the contest, but failed to register a single shot on Bobrovsky.

Where do the Lightning go from here after their latest loss? 

In the aftermath of Tampa’s second consecutive Round 1 Stanley Cup Playoffs defeat, speculation is rife that their championship prospects may be dwindling, particularly amidst rumors of Stamkos’ potential departure.

However, the Lightning’s potential without Stamkos shouldn’t be overstated. They remain a well-coached unit, anchored by the exceptional Nikita Kucherov, who amassed an impressive 100 assists in the regular season. Moreover, the team still boasts talents like Brayden Point, strong depth pieces like Brandon Hagel and Nick Paul, alongside defensive stalwarts Victor Hedman and Mikhail Sergachev fortifying their blue line.

Despite Andrei Vasilevskiy’s recent playoff struggles, he retains his status as one of the league’s premier goaltenders. Nevertheless, the past two seasons have prompted reasonable doubts about Tampa Bay’s ability to vie for the Stanley Cup with the same conviction as before.