Lightning mid-season report

The Tampa Bay Lightning are having one of the best seasons in history. The lightning are 30-10-5 for 65 points and own the best record in the NHL.

As we hand out mid-season grades, let’s start at the top with GM Steve Yzerman. Everything thing this man touches seems to turn to gold. There were two major transactions that Yzerman did over the summer that has helped this Lightning team to its best start. The signing of Dan Girardi. Girardi is a warrior. He shows up every night, gives 110 percent, is a great leader in the clubhouse, and sacrifices his body night in and night out to make a play to help this team win. Girardi is not going to get you a ton of pointo like Victor Hedman, but will make the tough plays to help the team win games. Girardi has been a very good addition to the blue line.

The trade of Jonathan Drouin to the Canadiens for young prospect Mikhail Sergachev. Where would this team be without the play of Sergachev? He has five game winning goals and is getting good minutes on the PK and PP. We need to remind ourselves that he is till only 19 years old, and has just 40 plus games of NHL experience. The sky is the limit for Sergachev as he continues to develop and should be an anchor on this Lightning blue line for years to come. Sergachev should also get consideration for the Calder Trophy this season.

Yzerman’s grade A+

Jon Cooper has seemed to push the right buttons all year long with this team to get them to excel. Thats what a good coach will do. Tyler Johnson was struggling early in the season and the as the season started Johnson struggled. He was playing on the third and fourth lines and had his minutes reduced. Copper flipped Johnson and Yanni Gourde and just like that Johnson caught fire. His best game coming against Carolina last Tuesday as he tallied a hat trick in a 5-4 Lightning win. Johnson has 16G on the season with 12 of those coming since December 1.

Gourde has also flourished on his new line as he has notched 14G and 16A for a total of 30 points. Cooper has done a great job using the entire roster and knowing when to sit guys and when to be patient and let them work through their slumps. Cooper will be coaching in his first all star game as he will coach the Atlantic division team on Jan 28th.

Cooper’s grade A+

Offensively, this Lightning team has been on fire. Averaging 3.6 goals a game and ouscoring the opponents by 47 goals so far this season. Led by MVP candidate Nikita Kucherov and comeback player of the year Steven Stamkos, Kucherov leads the NHL in scoring with 60 points and is tied with Alex Ovechkin for the league lead in goals with 27. Stamkos playing alongside Kucherov has put up 17 goals and 35 assists for 52 points that is currently tied for 2nd in scoring in the NHL. The Lightning power play which has been the best in the league most of the season is now 4th at 24.4 %, due to a lack of penalties being called against the Lightning opponents.

The young kids have exceeded expectations with thier offensive contributions. Braydon Point has been outstanding with 17 goals and 25 assists for 40 points good for third place on the team in scoring. Yanni Gourde has been outstanding as well. The Lightning has been relatively healthy all season so the Syracuse shuffle has been quiet most of the season, but when called upon Cory Conacher and Gabriel Dumont have fit right in and contributed. Dumont has since been lost to Ottawa on waivers.

Offense grade A+

Defensively the Lightning have been better than I thought they would be. Led by Norris Trophy nominee Victor Hedman, the Lightning are giving up 2.5 Goals a game, good for 4th in the league. Hedman is on pace for another 70 point season and will be an all-star for the second time. The addition of Dan Girardi, and the play of 19 year old Mikhail Sergachev have made this unit better than what we anticipated.

Defense grade A

Where would the Lightning be without the play of Andrei Vasilevsky. Vasilevskiy single handedly has won 5-10 games this season for the Lightning. He is the team MVP the first half of the season. All Vasilevskiy has done is lead the league in shutouts with 6, has put up a 2.18 GAA and a .930 save percentage. He will be making his first all-star game appearance this year. Vasilevskiy is on pace to play between 65-70 games this season and that is a bit high. Most goalies will play between 55-60 during the season. Cooper needs to make sure that Vasilevskiy is well rested mentally and physically for the playoffs. I hope they are not relying on home too much and he will be spent when the playoffs start. Remember, Vasilevskiy does not have a lot of playoff experience. He did play a bit in the Stanley Cup playoffs of 2015-16, but has never been a number one In the playoffs. For the Lightning to make a deep Stanley Cup Playoff run, they will need a sharp and well-rested Vasilevsky.

Peter Budaj has been a disappointment as the no. 2 behind Vasilevskiy. Louis Domingue has one start under his belt and played well in a win against Detroit.

Goaltending grade A+

The special teams play has even a mixed bag. The power play has clicked really well led by Kucherov and Stamkos. The PK has some work to do. This is probably the one area that this team really struggles in is killing penalties. The Lightning rank 24th in the league at 79.4%. A lot of improvement will be needed in this area if the Lightning want to become a complete team.

Special teams grade B+

Power Play A

Penalty Kill C-

Facoffs is another facet of the game this team is absolutely horrible at. The Lightning are next to last in the league at 46.6%. With puck possession an important component of the game, losing faceoffs can come back to haunt you especially come playoff time. This stat is really hard to believe but Nikita Kucherov is the only Lightning player above 50 percent on faceoffs wins. Kucherov wins 75% of his faceoffs, while no one else is above 50%.

Grade F

Overall the first half of the season has even a very pleasant surprise. In October if we told you the Lightning would lead the league in Mid January with 65 points and have only 10 losses, you would have signed up for that in a heartbeat. Stanley cups are not won in January though. There is a lot of Hockey yet to play. Let’s hope the lightning can keep up theIr high level of play. The second season starts now.

Marc DesRosiers-USA TODAY Sports
Marc DesRosiers-USA TODAY Sports
Marc DesRosiers-USA TODAY Sports