David Banks-USA Today Sports
What can you say about the Tampa Bay lightning‘s transformation into a dominate road team? This evolution has been amazing, and it has them within two games of bring Lord Stanley’s Cup back to Tampa for a nice suntan.
This is clearly not the same team that barley finished above .500 on the road in the regular season. This is a new and improve road team, one that stays discipline, and stays true to their game. If you didn’t know about the Bolts’ struggles on the road during the regular season, then what I am writing about may not make much sense to you. But for the people who have followed Tampa Bay all season long, then you know what I’m talking about.
While the Bolts won an NHL-high 32 games on home ice during the regular season with a lights-out offense, it wasn’t quite the same when they traveled outside the comfy confines of Tampa Bay. The Bolts won only 18 games away from home during the regular season, and had a tough time getting their high-scoring offense in gear on the opponent’s ice.
To make matters worse, their defense, which was shaky for most of the year anywhere they played, was a gushing faucet on the road. But in the playoffs, Tampa Bay has found the magic elixir to their road woes, and now, this team is flying high and ready to prove that they are indeed the best team in the NHL.
If the Bolts can solve Chicago’s madhouse again in Game 4, then I like their chances of sending Tampa into a frenzy when they hoist the cup in Game 5 at home.
Kareem Gantt covers the sports world for Rant Sports. For more from this author, follow him on Twitter, like him on Facebook, and add him to your network on Google.
