Tampa Bay Lightning Tickets

2009 Tampa Bay Lightning Season Update The Tampa Bay Lightning were on top of the hockey world just a few years ago, with a young team that looked like it was ready to compete for multiple Stanley Cup's.

However, things have gone downhill quickly and the Lighting find themselves in fourth place in the Southeast Division and with one of the worst records in the Eastern Conference.

The team has used five different goalies this year, which is never a good sign. Between injuries and inconsistency, the need to make so many changes in the net is one of the team's biggest problems.

The Lightning are without their top two goaltenders due to injury in Mike Smith and Olaf Kolzig. Of course, Kolzig wasn't exactly a huge loss because of how poorly he was playing at the time of the injury.

The Washington Capitals released Kolzig knowing his better days were well behind him and he wasn't nearly the same player he was almost a decade ago. The Lightning looked rather clueless when they signed him and thought he would play a significant role on their team.

As if that isn't bad enough, the Lightning have now lost their top two defensemen for the season as well. Paul Ranger and Andrej Meszaros will both undergo surgeries to repair labrum tears in their left shoulders.

While the losses might not seem that important since the Lightning are not in playoff consideration, they certainly don't want to be embarassed the rest of the season.

At least the team still has a decent offense.

Martin St. Louis leads the team with 55 points, including 35 assists. St. Louis has also scored two, short-handed goals. Vincent Lecavalier leads the team with 25 goals, including eight via the power play.

For Tampa Bay, the rest of the season is about playing for pride and avoiding the embarassment of losing a ton of games and getting manhandled on a nightly basis. They will also look to build momentum into next season, if that's even possible with all of the injuries that continue to mount.