Girardi Adds Defensive Element to High-Powered Lightning Offense

TAMPA BAY, FL – After playing 900 games over the last 10 seasons for the New York Rangers, defenseman Dan Girardi is enjoying his first season with the Tampa Bay Lightning, who are currently own the league’s best record after registering back-to-back dominant wins.

“It’s been an easy transition for me and my family here in Tampa,” Girardi explained. “It’s a winning culture here and a great city to play in. I can’t say enough how excited I am to be playing here.”

A two-time league leader in blocked shots, Girardi is coming off his eighth consecutive season in the Top 10 in this category, which has earned him a reputation as one of the league’s most fearless defenders.

Fittingly, ‘fearless’ is one of three words branded across the Lightning locker room. The other two – ‘humility’ and ‘integrity’ – also attest to the 11-year veteran’s play on the ice.

“I think he brings a lot to our defensive core,” explained Lightning center Ryan Callahan, who has a long history of playing with Girardi at the junior hockey level and for eight seasons with the Rangers. “It’s always nice to add a familiar face to the team.”

“He’s such a steady player who has played against some of the top lines in the league for so long,” Callahan added.

Defensive play has been among the notable improvements for a Lightning team that missed the playoffs last year after making the Eastern Conference Finals and Stanley Cup Finals in the preceding seasons. This year, the Lightning are yielding 2.50 goals per game, which is good for sixth-best in the conference. Last year, Tampa Bay ranked in the bottom half of the league in goals allowed.

“If we play the right way defensively, we’ll always have our chances on the offensive side,” suggested Girardi. “We’re a team that could put the puck in the net so we just have to try to keep it out of ours.”

Scoring has been a catalyst for the Lightning’s success this year as they lead the league in scoring (4.10 goals per game) while being represented atop of the individual league leaders in goals, assists, points and plus/minus rating.

Tampa Bay captain Steven Stamkos (20) and right winger Nikita Kucherov (17) are respectively the top two point scorers this season. They are pacing the Lightning’s offensive production at a historic franchise rate.

This combination provides optimism for a team that seeks its first Stanley Cup Championship in over a decade.

Girardi, 33, holds the Rangers’ all-time franchise record for most playoff games played (122) for a skater and could prove to be a valuable asset in the playoffs.

Naturally, spending so many years with a consistently successful team creates an everlasting connection.

“I’ll always remember my time in New York,” said Girardi. “I’m not going to turn the page and throw out the book. There’s so many memories that I’ve been fortunate to have.”

Playing on many playoff teams, Girardi sees some similarities of qualities that are exemplified in teams that make deep playoff runs.

“This team’s very fast and skilled with great goaltending,” Girardi noted. “It kind of sounds a lot like New York in a sense.”

“This team has the experience – a lot of the core guys here were on the 2015 team that advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals and they’ve grown from that,” Girardi explained. “We know we can score goals. It’s just a matter of whether we can defend first and properly with the goaltending that we have.

It’s been a good start for the Lightning, but consistency and health will be keys to the team’s success this year if they are going to make a deep playoff run this year.