SUNRISE, Fla. – After watching how things transpired in the first meeting of the season against the Florida Panthers on Thursday, seeing the lineup for the Tampa Bay Lightning heading into the rematch could easily leave a pit in the stomach of Lightning fans.
Already without Nikita Kucherov, missing Steven Stamkos (who did miss the first meeting with an injury) after he landed on the league's COVID list on Friday and then learning before the game that second line center Anthony Cirelli would miss significant time, the outlook felt gloomy for the Lightning.
Funny how a little bit of outside do...
