Stamkos’ return to Tampa Bay will be special – for both him, and the Lightning

Steven Stamkos makes his much-anticipated return to Tampa Bay tonight, as he’ll be playing his former franchise for the first time since he left the team in the summer and signed with the Nashville Predators. It’ll be a big moment for the former Tampa Bay Lightning captain, and you have to wonder if it’s something that can turn around what has been a slow start for both Stamkos and the Preds.

Tennesean beat reporter Alex Daugherty joined Daily Faceoff Live to talk about Stamkos’ return to the Tampa Bay and how special of a moment it will be.

Alex Daugherty: I think Stamkos has probably been wanting to get this out of the way since he moved to Nashville. I don’t think he wants to talk about it anymore. I think he wants to move on. Head coach Andrew Burnette actually said the same thing after the 4-3 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday. He said “It’s going to be an emotional game. We’re also ready to get it out of the way.” because it’s just, it felt like this kind of looming thing over everybody.

That being said, it’s going to be a cool moment, right? It’s going to be a big moment for a guy that has had the impact that Stephen Stamkos has had in Tampa. To go out on that ice, to get some sort of, I’m sure there’s going to be some sort of presentation or something by Tampa, maybe not a lot, but I don’t know what that’s going to look like.

And then there’s the fact that he has one point in eight games for Nashville, which has been a big part of why they’ve struggled at the start. I was looking at this before I came on, it’s only the seventh time in his career that he’s had at one point in an eight game stretch. And most of that is from his rookie year. So it’s arguably his worst stretch in six, seven, eight years. It’s kind of remarkable.

And it’s not for a lack of trying. He has been, he has got some looks. He’s had time on the power play. He’s hit the post a few times. I think it was Alex Lyon that had that crazy paddle save on him against the Detroit Red Wings. He’s had so many chances. It’s just, for whatever reason, things are not falling into place. The timing is just off.

I do think that tonight’s gonna be a big moment for him. And I’m not alone in thinking this, but you have to think that he’s gonna make an impact somehow tonight. He’s gonna score a goal, he’s gonna get an assist, he’s gonna do something. And that’s why he gets paid what gets paid. And I think it’s going to be fun to watch.

You can watch the full episode here…