Obscure Stat Shows How Far Things Fell For Bucs
February 2nd, 2026
Baker Mayfield and Tristan Wirfs lead the Tampa Bay Lightning into The Licht House for the NHL’s Stadium Series game between the Lightning and Boston Bruins on Sunday.
Joe hates to remind Bucs fans of how the season ended. But the following nugget shows how this team has to be better when it matters the most.
The Bucs, as we all know, jumped out to a 6-2 record to start the season — then proceeded to lose seven of their final nine games and blow an NFL South division lead and a playoff berth.
#Sad
Now you may have heard that The Licht House last night hosted an NHL game. It was part of the NHL’s Stadium Series, in which the NHL holds a game or two each year in a football or baseball stadium.
It was the first time the Lightning hosted an outdoor game. The weather certainly cooperated because it was almost hockey weather. It needs to be a little colder to have hockey games on local ponds and lakes, though.
The game was a spectacle. The Lightning embraced the Bucs by using a pirate theme for the game. Before the game, Baker Mayfield and left tackle Tristan Wirfs, decked out in Lightning jerseys, led a parade of Lightning players into the stadium as those Lightning players wore Bucs creamsicle uniforms to honor the Bucs before the game.
The Lightning trailed by four goals to the Bruins last night but rallied to win in overtime. It was a fun game.
Hey, at least the Lightning can win (briefly) wearing the creamsicles.
After the game, Nick Wize of WDAE-AM 620 had a depressing stat connecting the Lightning and the Bucs.
That stuff has to change, obviously. If the Bucs are going to return to the playoffs in 2026, and perhaps in the process save Todd Bowles’ job, the Bucs likely will need to win more than one game in The Licht House after Dec. 1.
It can’t just be the local NHL team, one that plays a home game there every 12 years.
The @TBLightning have arrived in full @Buccaneers gear 😎
Watch the 2026 @NavyFederal NHL #StadiumSeries TONIGHT at 6:30p ET on @espn, @Sportsnet and @TVASports! pic.twitter.com/5mPnjY29bf
— NHL (@NHL) February 1, 2026
February 2nd, 2026 at 4:50 am
Den of depression last season, no question about it. That won’t change until Bowles and Licht are finally gone.
February 2nd, 2026 at 5:47 am
Why did the Lightning choose those unis. Why wear those uni’s???? Those have loser all over them. They may look decent, but as a lifelong Bucs fan since 1976, they are LOSING unis. This year the Bucs wore those 1976 wites and for most of the year they looked very much like 1976 Bucs that the fans from then had to endure. Enough of those things, wear the SUPER BOWL CHAMPION JERSEYS, RED or White Either one is fine, becuase it represents a CHAMPION not a LOSER
February 2nd, 2026 at 6:42 am
Todd Bowles is a fraud and the Glazers are straight up cowards for not doing the obvious thing after the last game.
February 2nd, 2026 at 6:43 am
The Errol Flynn pirate will live in infamy for eternity=YEAH CREAMSICLE!!!
February 2nd, 2026 at 7:24 am
Lightning are the best sports franchise in the nation. Even the creamsicles can’t defeat them!
February 2nd, 2026 at 7:51 am
Not only did they win , they came back from a near impossible 5-1 deficit to do it. Grit, determination, skill, a little luck, a goalie fight! WTF? They never gave up. That is the lesson. Go Bucs, go Bolts!!!
February 2nd, 2026 at 7:53 am
There is nothing wrong with the Bucs old uniforms never forget 1979. The play is what counts
February 2nd, 2026 at 9:42 am
Bolts have a coach who has been willing to learn , grow and adapt ,,, Cooper will be a hall of famer