Let’s talk about the Tampa Bay Lightning, shall we?? It’s hard not to considering they are the top team in the NHL by a landslide. They have Nikita Kucherov– who is shattering team records with a vengeance, as well as Brayden Point, who is probably the most slept on scorer in the NHL because Kucherov and Steven Stamkos are on the team. Plus, Andrei Vasilevskiy has been sturdy in net and really hasn’t complained about being tired yet– a far cry from last season.
This is all after former GM and noted waitress stealer Steve Yzerman left the team days before training camp begun.
In fact, this is a team that reminds me of a team Steve Yzerman played for…well, the only team he played for, but of an era. This team seems a bit like the mid-to-late-90s Detroit Red Wings. While they didn’t have the big star power that those teams had, but they have the ability to win, multiple 30-plus goal scorers, and solid defense in Victor Hedman and Ryan McDonagh.
Plus, the Lighting only need 10 more wins in their next 13 games to match the 1995-96 Red Wings for most wins by a team in a season. Sure, you could bitch about the new overtime rules and shootout skewing the win number, but shut up. Sixty-two wins is 62 wins.
We all know that their sheer bulk of goals probably will dwindle in the playoffs since the second-season is all about that defense– as you could tell by this team last year who only had 50 goals in 17 games of the playoffs (2.94 GPG) after having 294 in the regular season (3.58 GPG).
That said, I’m sure there’s still a bitter taste in their mouth from last year– losing games six and seven of the conference finals and not scoring a single goal in those 120 minutes of regulation. Plus, it’s the second time in three seasons they lost in seven games in a conference finals and are four playoffs removed from losing in the 2015 Stanley Cup Final to the Chicago Blackhawks, ending their dynasty.
You can almost assume the talk of Steven Stamkos’ “legacy” will be talked about if this team doesn’t win the Cup– almost like how Yzerman had that dogging him until he won his first Cup in 1997, which was two seasons removed from his first Cup Final– a loss to the Devils.
With the tear the Kucherov is on, the goals that Point has produced, and probably the sheer will and determination of Stamkos to nip the playoff demons in the bud– the offense will be more apt to find a way to keep their torrid pace going in the playoffs. Assuming Vasilevskiy gets a rest in the last weeks of the season, they could very well be running roughshod over the Eastern Conference.
That all being said, the last time a Presidents’ Trophy winner won the Stanley Cup was the shortened season of 2012-13 when the Blackhawks did it against Boston. Prior to that, the Red Wings won both in 2007-08. Of the last five Presidents’ Trophy winners, only one has made it past the second round and none have made it to the Cup Final. The team the Bolts may or may not be chasing for the wins and points record– the 1995-96 Red Wings– lost in the Conference Final.
If the Bolts are going to get their franchise’s second Stanley Cup, this is the prime time to do so with a team as stacked as they’ve shown all season.
Scotty Wazz 