The 1997–98 Tampa Bay Lightning season was the Lightning's sixth season of operation. The Lightning missed the playoffs for the second consecutive year.

Offseason

Regular season

On October 26, head coach Terry Crisp was fired after a 2–7–2 start and Paul Ysebaert’s tenure as team captain ended. Assistant coach Rick Paterson served as interim head coach until Jacques Demers was hired as the team’s new head coach on November 12. Demers named Mikael Renberg the team’s new captain on November 19. The Lightning struggled offensively during the regular season, being shut out a league-high 11 times (tied with the Chicago Blackhawks and the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim) and finishing 26th in goals scored (151), power-play goals scored (33) and power-play percentage (9.35%). The 9.35% power play was the lowest in NHL history in one season by any team until the 2020-21 Anaheim Ducks surpassed it with an 8.94% power play efficiency.

Final standings

Schedule and results

Player statistics

Scoring

Goaltending

Awards and records

Records

Tampa Bay set team records for the longest losing streak, 13 games from January 3 to February 2, and the longest winless streak, 16 games from October 10 to November 17 and January 2 to February 5.

Milestones

Transactions

Draft picks

Tampa Bay's draft picks at the 1997 NHL entry draft held at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.