Lightning proving they are Stanley Cup contenders
The season is not half over yet and the Tampa Bay Lightning have 54 points and are on pace for a team record 120 points as they continue to dominate their opponents. From offense to defense to special teams, the Lightning are excelling in all facets of the game.
We knew the Lightning would be good. But this Good? The Lightning are 26-7-4 and are losing once on average every 2 weeks. The chip on their shoulder appears to be growing bigger as the season goes along.
As good as this team has been it does have a flaw or two. I have yet to see a perfect team unless you‘re talking about the great Montreal Canadien teams of the 70’s who were cranking out Stanley Cups as often as the Bucs have a losing season.
The Lightning have the best offense in the league averaging 3.74 GPG. Led by Nikita Kucherov‘s league leading 24 goals and 51 points, the Lightning can almost score at will at any time during the game. The captain Steven Stamkos is on pace for a 90 point plus season and could break his career mark of 97 points which he put up during the 2011-12 season.
Defensively the Lightning are giving up 2.44 GPG which is second in the league behind San Jose’s 2.42. Defense is what will win you championships and this defense will only get better as the playoffs get closer. The impact and leadership that Dan Girardi has brought to the club has been just what this defensive group needed. Girardi leads by example blocking the shots and chipping in an offense now and then. Girardi had a goal and an assist in the win against Minnesota on Saturday.
The rookie Mikhail Sergachev has played like a veteran. As the season has gone along Sergachev has played on the PK and gotten more minutes per game a sign of more confidence by Jon Cooper. This group of Hedman, Dotchin, Stralman, Sergachev, Coburn and Girardi are the best in the league and they put that on display for all to see every game.
If team MVP awards were handed out mid-season, I would have to split the award between Kucherov and Andrei Vasilevsky. Vasilevskiy leads the league in shutouts with 4, has the second best GAA at 2.13 and has one just as many games with his glove as Kucherov has with his stick. Vasilevskiy is on pace for a Vezina nomination and should be a shoo in for the All-Star game.
While boasting the best PP in the league at 26.2%, The PK has underachieved this season as the Lightning currently rank 21st in the league at 79.3%. The PK has been streaky all season lacking consistency. They will get on a good roll where they are not allowing any PP goals, and then you will have a stretch like the game in Vegas where every opposing PP shot seems to find the back of the net. The Lightning needs to improve thier PK as a good PK unit can win you some games late in the season. Hey we never said this Lightning team was perfect right?
The Lightning now have a very tough January ahead as 10/13 will be played away from Amalie Arena. Starting with the game against Columbus on New Years Eve, The Lightning will play 5/6 against division opponents. These are very important games as the Lightning have not played a lot in the division yet. The Lightning do have won of the best road records at 11-5-1.
Although the Lightning are racking up the points, this is not the time to get complacent and take your foot off the gas. As we saw last year every game is critical and points not accumulated now may come back to haunt you late in the season.
