Steven Stamkos has yet to digest what happened during the Tampa Bay Lightning's Game 7 loss on Wednesday night. Nearly 24 hours after the Washington Capitals eliminated Tampa Bay, Stamkos revealed the harsh reality of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Tampa Bay, despite dropping its first two games at home, quickly gained a 3-2 series lead over the Capitals. Stamkos' play through the first five games is what propelled Tampa to within one win of meeting the Vegas Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup Final. The Lightning captain recorded at least a goal in four consecutive games against Washington, each coming via Tampa Bay's power play. As the Capitals became more disciplined, Stamkos' line struggled to score at even strength. Credit may belong to Braden Holtby or the Capitals' defense, but Stamkos relays each loss as a "missed opportunity."
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Stamkos totaled 86 points in 2018 — his tenth season in the NHL. He sat one point behind Alex Ovechkin among the NHL's overall scoring leaders. But unlike Ovechkin, Stamkos couldn't spark his team's offense when needed. Tampa went upwards of seven periods without a goal to end the series, and Stamkos is putting the blame on his own shoulders.
"You look back on it now, it's very frustrating," Stamkos told reporters on Thursday. "You want to help your team win. And by not scoring a goal in the last two games as a team that falls on us as the offensive leaders to ultimately get it done and you feel like you let your teammates down. It sucks but you have to continue to try and get better. When there's so many ups and downs in the season and in the playoffs, it's tough the way that one ended."
Stamkos on the window to win: “It’s definitely not [closed]. I think it’s wide open... The expectations are going to be just as high next year as they were this year.” pic.twitter.com/ooO2633tFu
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) May 24, 2018
This was supposed to be Tampa Bay's year, or so Stamkos believed.
Tampa Bay opened the season with 12-1 odds to win the 2018 Stanley Cup, according to the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook. As the season progressed, the likeliness of Tampa Bay representing the Eastern Conference grew. Nikita Kucherov had built a solid resume for Hart Trophy consideration in the season's first half with Andrei Vasilevskiy netting a career high 44 wins. General manager Steve Yzerman added defenseman Ryan McDonagh and JT Miller from the New York Rangers in exchange for budding forward Vladislav Namestnikov among other prospects. The road was set for the Lightning to go for the cup, or bust.
The Lightning rolled through their first two playoff rounds against the New Jersey Devils and Boston Bruins, respectively. They outscored their opponents 35-25 in that span, building to a matchup with the Capitals. Tampa Bay had 5/4 odds of winning the Stanley Cup entering the Eastern Conference Final, and, despite dropping its first two games at home, quickly gained a 3-2 series lead over the Capitals. The Lightning faltered in the ensuing two games as Holtby stopped the next 53 shots to push the Capitals through to the next round.
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Nothing drastic will come to Tampa Bay during the offseason. Chris Kunitz and Andrej Sustr are the only players with at least 40 games played in 2017-18 set to become unrestricted free agents, while Miller and Cedric Paquette become restricted free agents.
"This was one of the tougher ends to the season based on the team we had, quality of players," Stamkos said. "Just that feeling of 'this was the year.' I think when we beat Boston in five and you're like 'that's a really good hockey team and you beat them in five' and you're coming in and you just felt that 'okay, let's keep riding that momentum. That's why it's the toughest trophy in sports to win. You could have a lot of things go right but you run into a very good team and you lose a Game 7."