2019–20 Tampa Bay Lightning season

2019–20 Tampa Bay Lightning
Eastern Conference Champions
Division	2nd Atlantic
Conference	2nd Eastern
2019–20 record	43–21–6
Home record	22–10–2
Road record	21–11–4
Goals for	245
Goals against	195
Team information
General Manager	Julien BriseBois
Coach	Jon Cooper
Captain	Steven Stamkos
Alternate captains	Victor Hedman Ryan McDonagh
Arena	Amalie Arena
Average attendance	19,092 (100%)
Team leaders
Goals	Nikita Kucherov (33)
Assists	Nikita Kucherov (52)
Points	Nikita Kucherov (85)
Penalties in minutes	Patrick Maroon (71)
Plus/minus	Anthony Cirelli Brayden Point (+28)
Wins	Andrei Vasilevskiy (35)
Goals against average	Andrei Vasilevskiy (2.56)
<2018–19 2020–21>

The 2019–20 Tampa Bay Lightning season was the 28th season for the National Hockey League (NHL) franchise that was established on December 16, 1991. The Lightning entered the season as the defending Atlantic Division and Presidents' Trophy champions.

The season was suspended by the league officials on March 12, 2020, after several other professional and collegiate sports organizations followed suit as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. On May 26, the NHL regular season was officially declared over with the remaining games being cancelled. On July 10, following the extension of the NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement by the league and the Players' Association, it was announced that the Canadian cities of Toronto and Edmonton would be the locations the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs would be staged in. The conclusion of the playoffs would be held in Edmonton as the site of both conference finals and the Stanley Cup Finals.

The playoffs began on August 1 in a modified format involving 24 teams. The Lightning began in Toronto with the other Eastern Conference teams and were given a bye into the first round by virtue of having the second-highest point percentage in the Eastern Conference at the time of the pause. For seeding, they competed in a four-team single round-robin along with the Boston Bruins, Washington Capitals, and Philadelphia Flyers, in which they finished in second place. The Lightning then defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets in the first round in five games, and the Boston Bruins in the second round, also in five games. Shifting to Edmonton, they competed in their fourth Eastern Conference Finals in the past six seasons, defeating the New York Islanders in six games.

On September 28, 2020, the Lightning won their second Stanley Cup in franchise history, defeating the Dallas Stars in six games. Victor Hedman won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.

On August 27, the playoffs were briefly suspended as the remaining teams decided not to play their next scheduled contests in the wake of the shooting of Jacob Blake.

Off-season

April

The Lightning's off season began on April 16, 2019, when they were swept by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the first round of the 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs.

May

The Lightning's first move of the off season happened on May 3, 2019, when the team signed Jan Rutta to a 1-year contract extension. Rutta appeared in 14 regular season games and 4 playoffs games for the Lightning after coming over in a trade from the Chicago Blackhawks.

On May 23, 2019, the Lightning and forward prospect Jonne Tammela mutually agreed to part ways via contract termination. On May 28, 2019, Tammela signed with Lukko of the Liiga hockey league in Finland.

June

On June 14, 2019, the Lightning re-signed defenceman Cameron Gaunce to a 1-year contract extension. Last season Gaunce appeared in two regular season games with the Lightning.

On June 18, 2019, the Lightning re-signed defenceman Braydon Coburn to a two-year contract extension valued at $3.4 million. The contract will carry a $1.7 million cap hit. Coburn was coming off a three-year contract with the team. In 74 games last season Coburn produced 23 points, which set a personal best during his tenure with the club.

On June 19, 2019, the Lightning announced that they had re-signed defenceman Daniel Walcott to a 1-year contract extension. Walcott missed the majority of the previous season due to injury.

That same evening, the NHL conducted the 2019 NHL Awards in Las Vegas. Nikita Kucherov was awarded the Ted Lindsay Award and Hart Memorial Trophy. Kucherov was the second player in franchise history win the Ted Lindsay Award and Hart Memorial Trophy. Andrei Vasilevskiy was awarded the Vezina Trophy. Vasilevskiy was the first goaltender in franchise history to win the award. Additionally, the NHL announced the NHL All-Star Teams and the NHL All-Rookie Team. Nikita Kucherov and Andrei Vasilevskiy were named to the NHL First All-Star Team and Victor Hedman was named to the NHL Second All-Star Team. Anthony Cirelli was named to the All-Rookie Team.

On June 20, 2019, the Lightning announced that Ryan Callahan had been diagnosed with a degenerative disk disease of the lower spine. Doctors gave Callahan the recommendation that it was medically in his best interest to no longer play hockey. The team further announced that it would be placing Callahan on Long Term Injured Reserve for the upcoming season, which is the final year of his contract. Callahan stated in an interview after the announcement that his back had been an issue for him for the last few seasons and that this past season was the worst it had been. Callahan will finish his career with 757 games played, recording 186 goals and 386 points.

On June 22, 2019, the Lightning traded forward J. T. Miller to the Vancouver Canucks on the second day of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. The Lightning received goaltender Marek Mazanec, a 3rd-round pick in 2019, and a conditional 1st-round pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft. The condition of the pick is that if the Canucks miss the playoffs in the coming season the pick becomes a 1st-round pick in 2021.

July

On July 5, 2019, the Lightning re-signed forward Carter Verhaeghe to a 1-year contact extension. Verhaeghe led the Syracuse Crunch and American Hockey League in scoring with 82 points (34 goals and 48 assists).

On the same day, the Lightning re-signed forward Cedric Paquette to a 2-year, contract extension. The cap hit on the contract is valued at $1.65 million. Paquette recorded 13 goals and 17 points last season for the Lightning.

On July 8, 2019, the Lightning signed forward Gemel Smith to a 1-year, 2-way contract. Last season Smith skated with the Dallas Stars and Boston Bruins, appearing in 17 NHL games in which he recorded 2 goals and 1 assist. In his professional career Smith has appearing in 80 NHL games, recording 11 goals and 20 points.

On July 9, 2019, the Lightning re-signed forward Danick Martel to a 1-year contract extension. Martel made the Lightning's roster last season, but primarily was healthy scratched. Martel skated in 9 games, recording 2 assists.

On July 16, 2019, the Lightning re-signed defenseman Ben Thomas to a 1-year contract extension. Thomas was drafted by the Lightning in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft, and has spent the previous seasons three seasons in the American Hockey League with the Syracuse Crunch.

On July 17, 2019, the Lightning re-signed defenseman Dominik Masin to a 1-year contract extension. Masin has spent the last three seasons playing for the Syracuse Crunch. Last season Masin skated in 69 games with the Crunch, recording 2 goals and 10 assists.

On July 29, 2019, the Lightning re-signed starting goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy to a $76 million, 8-year contract extension. The annual cap hit is valued at $9.5 million. Vasilevskiy was coming off his first career Vezina Trophy win as the NHL's top goaltender. Vasilevskiy recorded a .925 save percentage, 2.40 goals-against average, and 6 shutouts during his Vezina campaign.

On July 30, 2019, the Lightning traded forward Ryan Callahan and the team's fifth-round 2020 draft pick to the Ottawa Senators in exchange for Mike Condon and Ottawa's 2020 sixth-round pick. The move freed up approximately $3.4 million in cap space.

August

On August 5, 2019, the Lightning signed free-agent defensemen Kevin Shattenkirk to a one-year, $1.75 million contract. Shattenkirk had played the previous two seasons for the New York Rangers before being bought out by the team. In the season prior to his buyout, Shattenkirk recorded 2 goals and 26 assists over 76 games.

On August 14, 2019, the Lightning traded forward Adam Erne to the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for a fourth-round pick in the 2020 NHL draft. Last season Erne skated in 65 games with the Lightning, recording 7 goals and 13 assists. Erne was originally acquired by the Lightning in the second-round of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft.

On August 24, 2019, the Lightning signed free-agent forward Patrick Maroon to a one-year, $900,000 contract. Maroon spent the previous season with the St. Louis Blues where he helped them capture their first Stanley Cup championship. Maroon scored 10 goals, and 28 points over 74 games in the regular season. In the playoffs Maroon recorded 3 goals and 7 points in 26 games.

Training camp

September

On September 11, 2019, the Lightning announced their training camp roster for the coming season. The camp is to be divided among three rosters, which are named after Lightning radio and television broadcasters (Rick Peckham, Phil Esposito and Bobby ‘The Chief’ Taylor). Notably absent from the roster was Lightning forward Brayden Point, who was a restricted free agent.

On September 18, 2019, the Lightning made their first round of training camp roster cuts. The team trimmed their roster of six players to reduce the camp roster down to 56 players. Lightning prospects Gabriel Fortier, Maxim Cajkovic and Quinn Schmeimann were assigned to their junior teams. Eli Zummack, Louis Crevier and Cody Donaghey were released from their tryout agreements.

On September 20, 2019, the Lightning placed goaltenders Mike Condon and Louis Domingue on waivers for the purpose of assignment to the Syracuse for the upcoming season. Domingue served as the Lightning's backup last season and Condon was acquired in trade of forward Ryan Callahan. The team was rumored to have been trying to trade Domingue all summer, but no trade materialized. Both goaltenders cleared waivers the following day.

On September 21, 2019, the Lightning made their second round of training camp roster cuts to reduce their roster to 42-players. The forward group cut consisted of Peter Abbandonato, Jimmy Huntington, Boris Katchouk, Alexey Lipanov, Ryan Lohin, Kevin Lynch, Mikhail Shalagin, and Dennis Yan. On defense it was Luc Snuggerud, Oleg Sosunov, Matt Spencer, and Nolan Valleau. Clint Windsor was the sole goaltender cut among the group. This group of players will report to Syracuse for training camp. Additionally, Cory Conacher, Chris Mueller and Spencer Martin were placed on waivers with the purpose of assignment to Syracuse.

On September 22, 2019, the Lightning made their third round of training cam roster cuts. The team assigned forwards Alex Barre-Boulet, Ross Colton, Cory Conacher, Chris Mueller, Otto Somppi and Mitchell Stephens to Syracuse. Defeseman Cal Foote and goaltender Spencer Martin were also assigned to Syracuse. Conacher, Mueller and Martin were assigned due to having cleared waivers. Forward Nolan Foote was assigned to his junior club (Kelowna Rockets). The team also placed Cameron Gaunce, Dominik Masin and Scott Wedgewood on waivers for assignment to Syracuse. All three players cleared waivers the following day.

On September 23, 2019, the Lightning announced that it had re-signed center Brayden Point to a three-year contract extension with a cap hit valued at $6.75 million annually. Point set career highs last season, recording 41 goals, 92 points and 51 assists. The team also announced that Point would not be medically cleared to play until late October due a procedure he had in the off-season.

On September 30, 2019, the Lightning made its final training camp roster cuts. The Lightning assigned forwards Danick Martel and Alexander Volkov to the Syracuse Crunch. Defenseman Luke Schenn was placed on waivers for the purpose of assignment to Syracuse. The forwards named to the opening night roster were Anthony Cirelli, Yanni Gourde, Tyler Johnson, Mathieu Joseph, Alex Killorn, Nikita Kucherov, Patrick Maroon, Ondrej Palat, Cedric Paquette, Brayden Point, Gemel Smith, Steven Stamkos, and Carter Verhaeghe. The defensemen named were Erik Cernak, Braydon Coburn, Victor Hedman, Ryan McDonagh, Jan Rutta, Mikhail Sergachev, Kevin Shattenkirk, and Luke Witkowski. Andrei Vasilevskiy and Curtis McElhinney were the starting and backup goaltenders named to the roster.

Standings

Divisional standings

Atlantic Division

Pos	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	RW	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	p – Boston Bruins	70	44	14	12	38	227	174	+53	100
2	Tampa Bay Lightning	70	43	21	6	35	245	195	+50	92
3	Toronto Maple Leafs	70	36	25	9	28	238	227	+11	81
4	Florida Panthers	69	35	26	8	30	231	228	+3	78
5	Montreal Canadiens	71	31	31	9	19	212	221	−9	71
6	Buffalo Sabres	69	30	31	8	22	195	217	−22	68
7	Ottawa Senators	71	25	34	12	18	191	243	−52	62
8	Detroit Red Wings	71	17	49	5	13	145	267	−122	39

Eastern Conference

Pos	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	RW	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Boston Bruins	70	44	14	12	38	227	174	+53	100	Advance to Seeding round-robin tournament
2	Tampa Bay Lightning	70	43	21	6	35	245	195	+50	92
3	Washington Capitals	69	41	20	8	31	240	215	+25	90
4	Philadelphia Flyers	69	41	21	7	31	232	196	+36	89
5	Pittsburgh Penguins	69	40	23	6	29	224	196	+28	86	Advance to 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs qualifying round
6	Carolina Hurricanes	68	38	25	5	27	222	193	+29	81
7	New York Islanders	68	35	23	10	24	192	193	−1	80
8	Toronto Maple Leafs	70	36	25	9	28	238	227	+11	81
9	Columbus Blue Jackets	70	33	22	15	25	180	187	−7	81
10	Florida Panthers	69	35	26	8	30	231	228	+3	78
11	New York Rangers	70	37	28	5	31	234	222	+12	79
12	Montreal Canadiens	71	31	31	9	19	212	221	−9	71
13	Buffalo Sabres	69	30	31	8	22	195	217	−22	68
14	New Jersey Devils	69	28	29	12	22	189	230	−41	68
15	Ottawa Senators	71	25	34	12	18	191	243	−52	62
16	Detroit Red Wings	71	17	49	5	13	145	267	−122	39

Schedule and results

Preseason

2019 preseason game log: 2–3–2 (Home: 1–1–1; Road: 1–2–1) Game Date Opponent Score OT Decision Location Attendance Record Recap 1 September 17 Carolina Hurricanes 0–3 Wedgewood Amalie Arena 12,010 0–1–0 2 September 18 @ Carolina Hurricanes 0–2 Martin PNC Arena 0–2–0 3 September 20 Nashville Predators 3–1 McElhinney Amalie Arena 13,456 1–2–0 4 September 21 @ Nashville Predators 4–5 OT Wedgewood Bridgestone Arena 1–2–1 5 September 24 @ Florida Panthers 3–6 Vasilevskiy BB&T Center 8,744 1–3–1 6 September 26 @ Florida Panthers 4–2 McElhinney BB&T Center 8,611 2–3–1 7 September 28 Florida Panthers 0–1 SO Vasilevskiy Amalie Arena 14,732 2–3–2

Lightning score listed first;       Win       Loss       Overtime/shootout loss

Regular season

2019–20 regular season game log
October: 6–4–2, 14 points (Home: 2–1–1; Road: 4–3–1) Game Date Opponent Score OT Decision Location Attendance Record Points Recap 1 October 3 Florida Panthers 5–2 Vasilevskiy Amalie Arena 19,092 1–0–0 2 2 October 5 @ Florida Panthers 3–4 Vasilevskiy BB&T Center 17,424 1–1–0 2 3 October 6 @ Carolina Hurricanes 3–4 OT McElhinney PNC Arena 14,125 1–1–1 3 4 October 10 @ Toronto Maple Leafs 7–3 Vasilevskiy Scotiabank Arena 19,387 2–1–1 5 5 October 12 @ Ottawa Senators 2–4 McElhinney Canadian Tire Centre 11,023 2–2–1 5 6 October 15 @ Montreal Canadiens 3–1 Vasilevskiy Bell Centre 20,406 3–2–1 7 7 October 17 @ Boston Bruins 4–3 SO Vasilevskiy TD Garden 17,193 4–2–1 9 8 October 19 Colorado Avalanche 2–6 Vasilevskiy Amalie Arena 19,092 4–3–1 9 9 October 23 Pittsburgh Penguins 3–2 Vasilevskiy Amalie Arena 19,092 5–3–1 11 10 October 26 Nashville Predators 2–3 OT McElhinney Amalie Arena 19,092 5–3–2 12 11 October 29 @ New York Rangers 1–4 Vasilevskiy Madison Square Garden 17,196 5–4–2 12 12 October 30 @ New Jersey Devils 7–6 OT McElhinney Prudential Center 13,152 6–4–2 14
November: 6–5–1, 13 points (Home: 4–3–0; Road: 2–2–1) † Games played in Stockholm, Sweden Game Date Opponent Score OT Decision Location Attendance Record Points Recap 13 November 1 @ New York Islanders 2–5 Vasilevskiy Nassau Coliseum 12,043 6–5–2 14 14 November 8 @ Buffalo Sabres 3–2 Vasilevskiy Ericsson Globe† 13,230 7–5–2 16 15 November 9 Buffalo Sabres 5–3 McElhinney Ericsson Globe† 13,339 8–5–2 18 16 November 14 New York Rangers 9–3 Vasilevskiy Amalie Arena 19,092 9–5–2 20 17 November 16 Winnipeg Jets 3–4 Vasilevskiy Amalie Arena 19,092 9–6–2 20 18 November 19 @ St. Louis Blues 1–3 Vasilevskiy Enterprise Center 18,096 9–7–2 20 19 November 21 @ Chicago Blackhawks 4–2 McElhinney United Center 21,336 10–7–2 22 20 November 23 Anaheim Ducks 6–2 Vasilevskiy Amalie Arena 19,092 11–7–2 24 21 November 25 Buffalo Sabres 5–2 Vasilevskiy Amalie Arena 19,092 12–7–2 26 22 November 27 St. Louis Blues 3–4 Vasilevskiy Amalie Arena 19,092 12–8–2 26 23 November 29 @ Washington Capitals 3–4 OT Vasilevskiy Capital One Arena 18,573 12–8–3 27 24 November 30 Carolina Hurricanes 2–3 McElhinney Amalie Arena 19,092 12–9–3 27
December: 9–4–1, 19 points (Home: 6–3–1; Road: 3–1–0) Game Date Opponent Score OT Decision Location Attendance Record Points Recap 25 December 3 @ Nashville Predators 3–2 OT Vasilevskiy Bridgestone Arena 17,163 13–9–3 29 26 December 5 Minnesota Wild 4–5 Vasilevskiy Amalie Arena 19,092 13–10–3 29 27 December 7 San Jose Sharks 7–1 Vasilevskiy Amalie Arena 19,092 14–10–3 31 28 December 9 New York Islanders 1–5 McElhinney Amalie Arena 19,092 14–11–3 31 29 December 10 @ Florida Panthers 2–1 Vasilevskiy BB&T Center 10,685 15–11–3 33 30 December 12 Boston Bruins 3–2 Vasilevskiy Amalie Arena 19,092 16–11–3 35 31 December 14 Washington Capitals 2–5 Vasilevskiy Amalie Arena 19,092 16–12–3 35 32 December 17 Ottawa Senators 4–3 OT Vasilevskiy Amalie Arena 19,092 17–12–3 37 33 December 19 Dallas Stars 3–4 OT Vasilevskiy Amalie Arena 19,092 17–12–4 38 34 December 21 @ Washington Capitals 1–3 McElhinney Capital One Arena 18,573 17–13–4 38 35 December 23 Florida Panthers 6–1 Vasilevskiy Amalie Arena 19,092 18–13–4 40 36 December 28 Montreal Canadiens 5–4 Vasilevskiy Amalie Arena 19,092 19–13–4 42 37 December 29 Detroit Red Wings 2–1 McElhinney Amalie Arena 19,092 20–13–4 44 38 December 31 @ Buffalo Sabres 6–4 Vasilevskiy KeyBank Center 18,465 21–13–4 46
January: 10–2–1, 21 points (Home: 3–0–0; Road: 7–2–1) Game Date Opponent Score OT Decision Location Attendance Record Points Recap 39 January 2 @ Montreal Canadiens 2–1 Vasilevskiy Bell Centre 20,904 22–13–4 48 40 January 4 @ Ottawa Senators 5–3 McElhinney Canadian Tire Centre 13,914 23–13–4 50 41 January 5 @ Carolina Hurricanes 3–1 Vasilevskiy PNC Arena 18,015 24–13–4 52 42 January 7 Vancouver Canucks 9–2 Vasilevskiy Amalie Arena 19,092 25–13–4 54 43 January 9 Arizona Coyotes 4–0 Vasilevskiy Amalie Arena 19,092 26–13–4 56 44 January 11 @ Philadelphia Flyers 1–0 Vasilevskiy Wells Fargo Center 19,866 27–13–4 58 45 January 12 @ New Jersey Devils 1–3 McElhinney Prudential Center 14,203 27–14–4 58 46 January 14 Los Angeles Kings 4–3 SO Vasilevskiy Amalie Arena 19,092 28–14–4 60 47 January 16 @ Minnesota Wild 2–3 McElhinney Xcel Energy Center 17,305 28–15–4 60 48 January 17 @ Winnipeg Jets 7–1 Vasilevskiy Bell MTS Place 15,325 29–15–4 62 All-Star Break (January 23–26) 49 January 27 @ Dallas Stars 2–3 OT Vasilevskiy American Airlines Center 18,345 29–15–5 63 50 January 29 @ Los Angeles Kings 4–2 Vasilevskiy Staples Center 18,230 30–15–5 65 51 January 31 @ Anaheim Ducks 4–3 Vasilevskiy Honda Center 16,032 31–15–5 67
February: 10–4–0, 20 points (Home: 6–2–0; Road: 4–2–0) Game Date Opponent Score OT Decision Location Attendance Record Points Recap 52 February 1 @ San Jose Sharks 3–0 McElhinney SAP Center 17,562 32–15–5 69 53 February 4 Vegas Golden Knights 4–2 Vasilevskiy Amalie Arena 19,092 33–15–5 71 54 February 6 Pittsburgh Penguins 4–2 Vasilevskiy Amalie Arena 19,092 34–15–5 73 55 February 8 New York Islanders 3–1 Vasilevskiy Amalie Arena 19,092 35–15–5 75 56 February 10 @ Columbus Blue Jackets 2–1 OT McElhinney Nationwide Arena 17,131 36–15–5 77 57 February 11 @ Pittsburgh Penguins 2–1 OT Vasilevskiy PPG Paints Arena 18,445 37–15–5 79 58 February 13 Edmonton Oilers 3–1 Vasilevskiy Amalie Arena 19,092 38–15–5 81 59 February 15 Philadelphia Flyers 5–3 Vasilevskiy Amalie Arena 19,092 39–15–5 83 60 February 17 @ Colorado Avalanche 4–3 OT McElhinney Pepsi Center 18,107 40–15–5 85 61 February 20 @ Vegas Golden Knights 3–5 Vasilevskiy T-Mobile Arena 18,376 40–16–5 85 62 February 22 @ Arizona Coyotes 3–7 Vasilevskiy Gila River Arena 14,825 40–17–5 85 63 February 25 Toronto Maple Leafs 3–4 Vasilevskiy Amalie Arena 19,092 40–18–5 85 64 February 27 Chicago Blackhawks 2–5 McElhinney Amalie Arena 19,092 40–19–5 85 65 February 29 Calgary Flames 4–3 Vasilevskiy Amalie Arena 19,092 41–19–5 87
March: 2–2–1, 5 points (Home: 1–1–0; Road: 1–1–1) Game Date Opponent Score OT Decision Location Attendance Record Points Recap 66 March 3 Boston Bruins 1–2 Vasilevskiy Amalie Arena 19,092 41–20–5 87 67 March 5 Montreal Canadiens 4–0 Vasilevskiy Amalie Arena 19,092 42–20–5 89 68 March 7 @ Boston Bruins 5–3 Vasilevskiy TD Garden 17,850 43–20–5 91 69 March 8 @ Detroit Red Wings 4–5 OT McElhinney Little Caesars Arena 18,841 43–20–6 92 70 March 10 @ Toronto Maple Leafs 1–2 Vasilevskiy Scotiabank Arena 19,124 43–21–6 92
Cancelled games Game Date Opponent Location 71 March 12 Philadelphia Flyers Amalie Arena 72 March 14 Detroit Red Wings Amalie Arena 73 March 15 New Jersey Devils Amalie Arena 74 March 18 @ Vancouver Canucks Rogers Arena 75 March 20 @ Edmonton Oilers Rogers Place 76 March 21 @ Calgary Flames Scotiabank Saddledome 77 March 25 Toronto Maple Leafs Amalie Arena 78 March 27 Columbus Blue Jackets Amalie Arena 79 March 28 New York Rangers Amalie Arena 80 March 31 Ottawa Senators Amalie Arena 81 April 2 @ Columbus Blue Jackets Nationwide Arena 82 April 4 @ Detroit Red Wings Little Caesars Arena
Lightning score listed first;       Win (2 points)       Loss (0 points)       Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)

Playoffs

Seeding Round-robin – Tampa Bay finishes 2nd † Games played at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada Game Date Opponent Score OT Decision Record Points Recap 1 August 3 Washington Capitals 3–2 SO Vasilevskiy 1–0–0 2 2 August 5 @ Boston Bruins 3–2 Vasilevskiy 2–0–0 4 3 August 8 Philadelphia Flyers 1–4 Vasilevskiy 2–1–0 4
Lightning score listed first;       Win (2 points)       Loss (0 points)       Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)

Player stats

Final

Skaters

Regular season

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
Nikita Kucherov	68	33	52	85	26	38
Steven Stamkos	57	29	37	66	14	22
Brayden Point	66	25	39	64	28	11
Victor Hedman	66	11	44	55	27	31
Alex Killorn	68	26	23	49	19	20
Anthony Cirelli	68	16	28	44	28	30
Ondrej Palat	69	17	24	41	25	22
Mikhail Sergachev	70	10	24	34	15	58
Kevin Shattenkirk	70	8	26	34	22	38
Tyler Johnson	65	14	17	31	9	16
Yanni Gourde	70	10	20	30	−5	49
Patrick Maroon	64	9	14	23	4	71
Cedric Paquette	60	7	11	18	−1	40
Carter Verhaeghe	52	9	4	13	−9	8
Erik Cernak	67	5	7	12	11	59
Ryan McDonagh	50	1	11	12	7	19
Mathieu Joseph	37	4	3	7	−2	16
Jan Rutta	33	1	6	7	6	14
Mitchell Stephens	38	3	3	6	−9	10
Braydon Coburn	40	1	3	4	5	16
Cameron Gaunce	3	1	3	4	2	4
Luke Schenn	25	1	2	3	−8	23
Luke Witkowski	12	1	2	3	−4	13
Zach Bogosian†	8	0	2	2	0	12
Barclay Goodrow†	8	0	2	2	0	17
Gemel Smith	3	1	0	1	0	4
Alexander Volkov	9	0	1	1	−6	6
Blake Coleman†	9	0	1	1	2	16
Cory Conacher	4	0	1	1	−2	4

Playoffs

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
Nikita Kucherov	25	7	27	34	15	22
Brayden Point	23	14	19	33	12	10
Victor Hedman	25	10	12	22	13	24
Ondrej Palat	25	11	7	18	14	10
Yanni Gourde	25	7	7	14	12	19
Blake Coleman	25	5	8	13	6	31
Kevin Shattenkirk	25	3	10	13	8	6
Alex Killorn	24	5	5	10	−6	27
Mikhail Sergachev	25	3	7	10	4	26
Anthony Cirelli	25	3	6	9	−5	2
Tyler Johnson	25	4	3	7	−6	11
Patrick Maroon	25	1	5	6	2	32
Barclay Goodrow	25	1	5	6	5	16
Ryan McDonagh	22	1	4	5	−1	10
Erik Cernak	25	0	4	4	2	12
Zach Bogosian	20	0	4	4	1	12
Cedric Paquette	24	0	2	2	−4	16
Luke Schenn	11	0	2	2	3	7
Carter Verhaeghe	8	0	2	2	−1	2
Mitchell Stephens	7	1	0	1	−2	2
Steven Stamkos	1	1	0	1	1	0
Jan Rutta	5	0	1	1	0	12
Braydon Coburn	3	0	0	0	1	0
Alexander Volkov	1	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltenders

Regular season

Player	GP	GS	TOI	W	L	OT	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Andrei Vasilevskiy	52	52	3122	35	14	3	133	2.56	1605	.917	3	0	4	4
Curtis McElhinney	18	18	1081	8	7	3	48	2.89	551	.906	1	0	0	0

Playoffs

Player	GP	GS	TOI	W	L	OT	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Andrei Vasilevskiy	25	25	1709	18	7	0	54	1.90	740	.927	1	0	1	2

^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Tampa Bay. Stats reflect time with Tampa Bay only.
^‡Traded from Tampa Bay mid-season.
Bold/italics denotes franchise record

Roster

Updated May 27, 2021

#	Nat	Player	Pos	S/G	Age	Acquired	Birthplace
60		Alex Barre-Boulet	C	L	26	2018	Montmagny, Quebec
81		Erik Cernak	D	R	26	2017	Košice, Slovakia
71		Anthony Cirelli	C	L	26	2015	Woodbridge, Ontario
3		Fredrik Claesson	D	L	31	2021	Stockholm, Sweden
20		Blake Coleman	C	L	32	2020	Plano, Texas
79		Ross Colton	C	L	27	2016	Robbinsville, New Jersey
52		Callan Foote	D	R	25	2017	Englewood, Colorado
33		Christopher Gibson	G	L	31	2020	Karkkila, Finland
19		Barclay Goodrow	C/RW	L	31	2020	Toronto, Ontario
37		Yanni Gourde	LW	L	32	2014	Saint-Narcisse, Quebec
77		Victor Hedman (A)	D	L	33	2009	Örnsköldsvik, Sweden
9		Tyler Johnson	C	R	33	2011	Spokane, Washington
7		Mathieu Joseph	RW	L	27	2017	Laval, Quebec
17		Alex Killorn (A)	C	L	34	2007	Halifax, Nova Scotia
86		Nikita Kucherov	RW	L	30	2011	Maykop, Russia
14		Patrick Maroon	LW	L	36	2019	St. Louis, Missouri
27		Ryan McDonagh (A)	D	L	34	2018	St. Paul, Minnesota
35		Curtis McElhinney	G	L	40	2019	London, Ontario
18		Ondrej Palat	LW	L	33	2011	Frýdek-Místek, Czechoslovakia
21		Brayden Point	C	R	28	2014	Calgary, Alberta
44		Jan Rutta	D	R	33	2019	Písek, Czechoslovakia
58		David Savard	D	R	33	2021	Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec
2		Luke Schenn	D	R	34	2019	Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
98		Mikhail Sergachev	D	L	25	2017	Nizhnekamsk, Russia
46		Gemel Smith	C	L	30	2019	Toronto, Ontario
91		Steven Stamkos (C)	C/RW	R	34	2008	Markham, Ontario
67		Mitchell Stephens	C	R	27	2015	Peterborough, Ontario
88		Andrei Vasilevskiy	G	L	29	2012	Tyumen, Russia
85		Daniel Walcott	LW	L	30	2015	L'Île-Perrot, Quebec

Suspensions/fines

Player	Explanation	Length	Salary	Date issued
Cedric Paquette	Fined for high-sticking Frank Vatrano during the preseason game against the Florida Panthers on September 26, 2019, at the BB&T Center.	—	$2,500	September 27, 2019
Erik Cernak	Suspended for elbowing Rasmus Dahlin during the regular season game against the Buffalo Sabres on November 25, 2019, at Amalie Arena.	2 games	$7,500	November 26, 2019
Alex Killorn	Suspended for boarding Brock Nelson during the Eastern Conference final playoff game against the New York Islanders on September 9, 2020, at Rogers Place.	1 game	—	September 10, 2020

Awards and honours

Awards

Regular season

Player	Award	Awarded
Victor Hedman	NHL First Star of the Week	December 30, 2019
Victor Hedman	NHL All-Star Game selection	December 30, 2019
Andrei Vasilevskiy	NHL First Star of the Week	January 13, 2020
Andrei Vasilevskiy	NHL All-Star Game selection	January 13, 2020
Steven Stamkos	NHL 2010s All-Decade Second Team	January 24, 2020
Andrei Vasilevskiy	NHL Third Star of January	February 1, 2020
Steven Stamkos	NHL Second Star of the Week	February 3, 2020
Andrei Vasilevskiy	NHL Third Star of the Week	February 10, 2020
Andrei Vasilevskiy	NHL Second Star of the Week	February 17, 2020
Victor Hedman	Second Team All Star	September 21, 2020
Nikita Kucherov	Second Team All Star	September 21, 2020

Hockey Hall of Fame

Individual	Award	Year awarded	Years with franchise	References
Rick Peckham	Foster Hewitt Memorial Award	2020	1995–2020

Milestones

Regular season

Player	Milestone	Reached
Carter Verhaeghe	1st career NHL game	October 3, 2019
Carter Verhaeghe	1st career NHL assist 1st career NHL point	October 5, 2019
Victor Hedman	700th career NHL game	October 10, 2019
Brayden Point	200th career NHL point	October 10, 2019
Alexander Volkov	1st career NHL game	October 30, 2019
Yanni Gourde	200th career NHL game	November 14, 2020
Steven Stamkos	400th career NHL goal	November 16, 2019
Ondrej Palat	100th career NHL goal	November 23, 2019
Ondrej Palat	200th career NHL assist 300th career NHL point	November 25, 2019
Brayden Point	100th career NHL goal	November 29, 2019
Victor Hedman	100th career NHL goal	December 5, 2019
Carter Verhaeghe	1st career NHL goal	December 7, 2019
Mitchell Stephens	1st career NHL game	December 9, 2019
Mathieu Joseph	100th career NHL game	December 14, 2019
Nikita Kucherov	200th career NHL goal	December 22, 2019
Nikita Kucherov	300th career NHL assist 500th career NHL point	December 23, 2019
Tyler Johnson	500th career NHL game	December 28, 2019
Mitchell Stephens	1st career NHL goal 1st career NHL point	December 28, 2019
Steven Stamkos	800th career NHL point	December 28, 2019
Mikhail Sergachev	200th career NHL game	January 7, 2020
Mitchell Stephens	1st career NHL assist	January 7, 2020
Carter Verhaeghe	1st career NHL Hat-trick	January 7, 2020
Steven Stamkos	400th career NHL assist	January 9, 2020
Andrei Vasilevskiy	20th career NHL shutout	January 11, 2020
Erik Cernak	100th career NHL game	January 12, 2020
Alexander Volkov	1st career NHL assist 1st career NHL point	January 14, 2020
Anthony Cirelli	1st career NHL Hat-trick	January 17, 2020
Alex Killorn	300th career NHL point	January 17, 2020
Nikita Kucherov	500th career NHL game	February 6, 2020
Patrick Maroon	500th career NHL game	February 10, 2020
Mikhail Sergachev	100th career NHL point	February 10, 2020
Steven Stamkos	800th career NHL game	February 17, 2020
Kevin Shattenkirk	300th career NHL assist	March 5, 2020

Playoffs

Player	Milestone	Reached
Zach Bogosian	1st career playoff game	August 3, 2020
Mitchell Stephens	1st career playoff game 1st career playoff point 1st career playoff goal	August 3, 2020
Carter Verhaeghe	1st career playoff game 1st career playoff point 1st career playoff assist	August 15, 2020
Zach Bogosian	1st career playoff point 1st career playoff assist	August 15, 2020
Victor Hedman	100th career playoff game	September 11, 2020
Andrei Vasilevskiy	1st career playoff point 1st career playoff assist	September 13, 2020
Andrei Vasilevskiy	1st career playoff shutout	September 28, 2020

Transactions

The Lightning have been involved in the following transactions during the 2019–20 season.

Trades

Date	Details		Ref
June 22, 2019 (2019-06-22)	To Vancouver Canucks J. T. Miller	To Tampa Bay Lightning Marek Mazanec 3rd-round pick in 2019 Conditional 1st-round pick in 2020
July 30, 2019 (2019-07-30)	To Ottawa Senators Ryan Callahan 5th-round pick in 2020	To Tampa Bay Lightning Mike Condon 6th-round pick in 2020
August 14, 2019 (2019-08-14)	To Detroit Red Wings Adam Erne	To Tampa Bay Lightning 4th-round pick in 2020
November 2, 2019 (2019-11-02)	To New Jersey Devils Louis Domingue	To Tampa Bay Lightning Conditional 7th-round pick in 2021
November 24, 2019 (2019-11-24)	To Buffalo Sabres Matt Spencer	To Tampa Bay Lightning Devante Stephens
December 30, 2019 (2019-12-30)	To Anaheim Ducks Chris Mueller	To Tampa Bay Lightning Patrick Sieloff
February 16, 2020 (2020-02-16)	To New Jersey Devils Nolan Foote Conditional 1st-round pick in 2020	To Tampa Bay Lightning Blake Coleman
February 20, 2020 (2020-02-20)	To Florida Panthers Danick Martel	To Tampa Bay Lightning Anthony Greco
February 24, 2020 (2020-02-24)	To San Jose Sharks Anthony Greco 1st-round pick in 2020	To Tampa Bay Lightning Barclay Goodrow 3rd-round pick in 2020

Free agents

Date	Player	Team	Contract term	Ref
July 1, 2019	Luke Schenn	from Vancouver Canucks	1-year
July 1, 2019	Curtis McElhinney	from Carolina Hurricanes	2-year
July 1, 2019	Luke Witkowski	from Detroit Red Wings	2-year
July 1, 2019	Scott Wedgewood	from Buffalo Sabres	1-year
July 1, 2019	Spencer Martin	from Colorado Avalanche	1-year
July 1, 2019	Chris Mueller	from Toronto Maple Leafs	1-year
July 1, 2019	Anton Stralman	to Florida Panthers	3-year
July 1, 2019	Gabriel Dumont	to Minnesota Wild	2-year
July 1, 2019	Andy Andreoff	to Philadelphia Flyers	2-year
July 8, 2019	Gemel Smith	from Boston Bruins	1-year
August 5, 2019	Kevin Shattenkirk	from New York Rangers	1-year
August 24, 2019	Patrick Maroon	from St. Louis Blues	1-year
February 23, 2020	Zach Bogosian	from Buffalo Sabres	1-year
July 17, 2020	Sean Day	from Hartford Wolf Pack	1-year

Waivers

Date	Player	Team	Ref

Contract terminations

Date	Player	Via	Ref

Retirement

Date	Player	Ref

Signings

Date	Player	Contract term	Ref
June 25, 2019 (2019-06-25)	Nolan Foote	3-year
July 5, 2019 (2019-07-05)	Carter Verhaeghe	1-year
July 5, 2019 (2019-07-05)	Cedric Paquette	2-year
July 9, 2019 (2019-07-09)	Danick Martel	1-year
July 16, 2019 (2019-07-16)	Ben Thomas	1-year
July 17, 2019 (2019-07-17)	Dominik Masin	1-year
July 29, 2019 (2019-07-29)	Andrei Vasilevskiy	8-year
September 23, 2019 (2019-09-23)	Brayden Point	3-year
April 17, 2020 (2020-04-17)	Daniel Walcott	1-year
September 9, 2020 (2020-09-09)	Alex Green	2-year

Draft picks

See also: List of Tampa Bay Lightning draft picks

Below are the Tampa Bay Lightning's selections at the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, which was held on June 21 and 22, 2019, at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Round	#	Player	Pos	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1	27	Nolan Foote	LW	United States	Kelowna Rockets (WHL)
3	711	Hugo Alnefelt	G	Sweden	HV71 J20 (J20 SuperElit)
3	89	Maxim Cajkovic	RW	Slovakia	Saint John Sea Dogs (QMJHL)
4	120	Maxwell Crozier	D	Canada	Sioux Falls Stampede (USHL)
6	182	Quinn Schmiemann	D	Canada	Kamloops Blazers (WHL)
7	1892	Mikhail Shalagin	LW	Russia	JHC Spartak (MHL)
7	213	McKade Webster	LW	United States	Green Bay Gamblers (USHL)

Notes:

1. The Vancouver Canucks' third-round pick went to the Tampa Bay Lightning as the result of a trade on June 22, 2019, that sent J. T. Miller to Vancouver in exchange for Marek Mazanec, a conditional first-round pick 2020 and this pick.
2. The Chicago Blackhawks' seventh-round pick went to the Tampa Bay Lightning as the result of a trade on January 11, 2019, that sent Slater Koekkoek and a fifth-round pick in 2019 to Chicago in exchange for Jan Rutta and this pick.

Notes

^α In the Round-Robin Seeding games the format followed that of the regular season. This meant there was a possibility of the game ending in overtime or a shootout. The regular playoff games followed the traditional format of sudden death overtime.

^b As the result of COVID-19 the Eastern Conference final games were held in the playoff bubble at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta.