In almost every NHL city, hockeys offseason is over and fans are looking at the calendar, waiting for the 2016-17 season to begin. But in Tampa Bay, there are lingering questions that could affect confidence that the Lightning will reach a third straight appearance in the Eastern Conference finals -- or beyond.The Lightning came within one game of reaching the Stanley Cup finals in 2015-16, and thats while playing nearly the entire playoffs without superstar Steven Stamkos.General manager Steve Yzerman surprised many pundits by convincing Stamkos to remain in Tampa Bay at a reasonable price, as the former 60-goal scorer inked an eight-year contract with an $8.5 million average annual cap hit. He also extended franchise defenseman Victor Hedman, and re-signed young goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy and solid middle-six forward Alex Killorn.Outside of the re-signings, Yzerman has been pretty quiet. With a Cup-worthy roster and salary cap pushed to the max, there wasnt a lot the Lightning could do in terms of the free agent market. Plus, they have a number of promising prospects who could make an impact soon, such as Slater Koekkoek, Adam Erne and Brayden Point -- in addition to Jonathan Drouin, who is seemingly back in everyones good graces. There wasnt much reason to overpay on the free agent market.Before we crown the Lightning as the team to represent the East in the 2017 Stanley Cup finals, there are three major questions to be answered by Yzerman and the Lightning staff. NFL Jerseys China Good Quality . Neymar curled home a free kick from just outside the area to put the 2014 World Cup host ahead in the 44th minute. Three minutes after the break, a simple through pass from Paulinho freed Oscar and the Chelsea star rounded goalkeeper Jung Sung-ryong to extend Brazils lead. Cheap Jerseys Fast Shipping . PAUL, Minn. http://www.authenticstitchednfljerseys.com/ . Thats not a comment on the suspension that banished the Portland Winterhawks general manager and coach from his Western Hockey League teams bench for most of the 2012-13 season. Cheap Jerseys From China . Supported by three-run homers from Jayson Werth and Wilson Ramos, the young right-hander went seven strong innings in the Washington Nationals 8-4 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night. Cheap Throwback NFL Jerseys . This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. With the amount of money given to players by their clubs these days, it is a wonder that so many of those teams allow the sport to continue to take away many of their assets so they can play for a different team in the middle of their season. AUBURN, Ala. -- Auburn coach Gus Malzahns puzzling quarterback rotation against Clemson didnt work out at all like he had hoped. The offense sputtered and gave away chance after chance to topple one of the best teams in the nation.For the Tigers second game against Arkansas State, that plan was scrapped. Malzahn gave Sean White the reins, and White -- along with the rest of the Auburn offense -- took advantage.He threw for 244 yards and three touchdowns on 17-of-23 passing, and the Tigers picked up 462 yards on the ground en route to a 51-14 demolition of Arkansas State on Saturday night.The 706 total yards Auburn gained is the second-highest in school history, behind only the 712 the Tigers racked up against Western Carolina in 2013.We came out and we looked like an Auburn offense for the first time, Malzahn said. Just looking at it, without looking at the film, I can tell they definitely improved.Kerryon Johnson and Kamryn Pettway each tallied over 100 yards on the ground, the first time two Auburn players have eclipsed the century mark in a game since 2014.Johnson added a pair of touchdowns, the first of which was a dazzling, cross-field, electrifying run that included a hurdle over an Arkansas State defender and a dive across the pylon.KJ, hes got some unique abilities, Malzahn said. He can do some things that can kind of wow you at times, and of course, that was really impressive. There were some good blocks, too, but he really made something out of nothing on that one.That was one of a handful plays that elicited flashbacks to the explosive Auburn offense of 2013 and 2014. The most impressive one, however, came from a freshman.Receiver Kyle Davis hauled in a falling, one-handed catch that bore a striking resemblance to New York Giants receiver Odell Beckhams simiilar catch, one that has become iconic.ddddddddddddrkansas State managed to scrape across a pair of touchdowns to go with the Red Wolves 326 total yards, but they couldnt find much room to maneuver against a vastly improved Auburn defense.We felt like if we could hang close, stay close, keep it a game, that potentially third or fourth quarter some of our quickness out in space might give us a chance to be in the mix, said Arkansas State coach Blake Anderson. You had to make it a 60-minute game and the second quarter just got away from us, and at that point it just not the same conversation anymore.The Tigers tacked on points in 10 of their 12 drives, and at one point scored a touchdown on five consecutive possessions. One of those touchdowns came on a fake field goal, which holder Tyler Stovall and kicker Daniel Carlson executed to perfection.THE TAKEAWAYAuburn rights the ship and quiets steadily rising concerns about the Tigers offensive woes and, perhaps more importantly, Malzahns job security.Arkansas States troubles in the secondary -- and the defense as a whole -- continue to plague the Red Wolves, who have now been outscored 82-24 in their first two games this season.POLL IMPLICATIONSWith the way SEC teams have been struggling against inferior opponents, a wire-to-wire victory for Auburn might be enough to bump them into the Top 25.QUOTABLEIt was good to go out there and ball out with my teammates, said Auburn defensive end Carl Lawson. Im glad we got a team win today. We need to keep improving, but Im so happy we got a win for Auburn today.UP NEXTAuburn hosts No. 20 Texas A&M on Saturday.Arkansas State travels to Utah State on Friday. ' ' '