After the first 25 games of the current NHL regular season, the Tampa Bay Lightning looked like their time as a true Stanley Cup contender had passed them by. They were 10-10-5 in that span, and the Bolts did not inspire confidence they’d be a playoff team, let alone a Cup front-runner. But something happened in the past month, and what used to resemble a Cup pretender has evolved into a team no opponent should want to see in the first round of the post-season. The Lightning are back, cresting at the right time of the year, and the crazy thing is, they’re still not at full strength, missing star defenseman Mikhail Sergachev.
Since the first week of March, Tampa Bay has gone 10-1-1, slowly but surely creeping closer to the top three spots in the Atlantic Division. With six games left in their regular season, the Lightning have a legitimate shot at sneaking into third spot in the division and setting up a first-round showdown against their arch-rivals in Florida, or against the Boston Bruins.
But here’s why they’re so scary at the moment: let’s start with their goaltending, which proved to be problematic for them in their first-round loss to Toronto last season. Star netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy did not look healthy and up to the challenge against the Leafs, and Toronto was able to pick his game apart as they eliminated the Bolts. But look at what Vasilevskiy is doing now – he went 8-1-1 in March, posting a 2.39 goals-against average and .915 save percentage last month. He also shut down the Leafs on Wednesday, limiting Toronto’s high-octane offense to just one goal in a 4-1 victory.
When you look at the macro picture for Tampa, you see they’ve got two very solid top-six lines of forwards, all of whom have plenty of playoff experience and championship pedigrees. And while Sergachev – who’s recovering from a major leg injury – isn’t likely to return to action in the first round, the Lightning have gotten a bounce-back season from star D-man Victor Hedman, and Bolts coach Jon Cooper has gone to defense-by-committee with his remaining healthy defensemen. Only Hedman has been averaging 20 minutes per-game or more since the start of March, and if they do have a weakness, it’s probably in the area of high-quality depth on ‘D’.
Heddy's comin' in hot 🔥 pic.twitter.com/3umwj1HZG4
— x – Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) April 3, 2024
In Tampa Bay’s final five games, they’ve got a relatively easy schedule, with four games coming against teams that presently aren’t in a playoff spot (Columbus, Ottawa, Washington and Buffalo) and another game against the Leafs. There’s a very real possibility the Lightning could leap over Toronto in the Atlantic standings and set up a first-round showdown against the Panthers or Bruins. The Bolts have gone 3-1-0 against Boston this season, and they’ve gone 1-2-0 against the Panthers (although they’ve won their most recent game against Florida). You can see, then, why there’s still plenty to play for if you’re the Lightning.
Tampa Bay doesn’t have an elite third or fourth line of forwards to depend on, so the coaching game of chess will fall on Cooper to get the right matchups against whoever the Lightning’s playoff opponents are going to be. But we’re talking about a coach who is the longest-tenured of any bench boss in the league – and Cooper has earned his job security. He’s not infallible, but he’s been through the wringer with his current group and he knows them inside and out.
Really, if you’re another Eastern Conference playoff team, do you want to take on the Bolts in Round 1? We don’t think so. Tampa Bay has the upper-end talent, the know-how and the discipline to get the job done against everyone they take on.
Winning the Stanley Cup is all about coming together at the right time of year, having good luck on the health front, and finally, possessing the depth of talent to squeeze past very good opponents at every turn. And for the most part, the Lightning look like they check all the championship boxes.
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News Summary:
- Lightning Strike Up an Electric Run as They Look to Retake the Post-Season Throne
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