The Tampa Bay Lightning won their season opener Thursday night against the Detroit Red Wings at Tampa's Amalie Arena. The final score was 6-4 with the Lightning scoring four goals in the third period.
Before the game, Lightning Captain Steven Stamkos warned against getting "caught up in predictions" that have the Lightning as a Stanley Cup favorite. The team has gone deep in the playoffs the last two seasons.
“You can't just look past the first 82 games of the season,” Stamkos said in a pre-game interview. “We're not going to automatically get there. There are so many good teams in this league. So we want to get off to a better start than we did last year.”
Many sports experts believe the Lightning are destined to make the playoffs this season because all their key players have returned including Stamkos, defenseman Victor Hedman, and forward Nikita Kucherov who signed a three-year contract this week.
