Playoff Preview: Can Tampa Bay Lightning Win It All?
The Tampa Bay Lightning can win the Presidents’ Trophy this year but that’s meaningless in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. This is what needs to come through to win the ultimate prize.
The Tampa Bay Lightning are tied for the Atlantic Division lead with the Montreal Canadiens, both two points behind the conference leading New York Rangers. The Lightning have been in this conversation all season, much like last. Fans are hoping for a much different ending to the season.
Live Feed class=inline-text id=inline-text-2
Bolts by the Bay
Last season the Tampa Bay Lightning were third in the Eastern Conference with 101 points and were considered a team capable of winning the conference championship. That is until Ben Bishop suffered an injury and missed the rest of the season and playoffs. The goaltending tandem of Anders Lindback and Kristers Gudlevskis were no match for the Montreal Canadiens whom blew the Tampa Bay Lightning away in a 4-0 first round sweep.
What makes this season different? Well for starters, Bishop is healthy and having another strong season. That alone won’t be enough to guide the Tampa Bay Lightning through the Eastern Conference playoff maze. Are they good enough to win it all?
Potent Power Play?
Going into Tuesday night the Tampa Bay Lightning have ten players with double-digit goal totals, four of whom are over twenty goals. Which makes the 15th ranked power play baffling. Stanley Cup playoff games are tighter than the regular season, making power play advantages critical in deciding games and series.
Steven Stamkos leads the way with eleven goals. Ryan Callahan and Tyler Johnson are next with nine and seven, respectively. The next best total beyond Johnson? Victor Hedman with three. The offensive balance for Tampa Bay isn’t translating to the power play. Put another way, the Tampa Bay Lightning have the same power play conversion percentage as the Edmonton Oilers (18.4%).
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Bishop escaped injury against the Canadiens last night when hit by Brandon Prust, but if he hadn’t the Tampa Bay Lightning would turn to an improved though inexperienced backup in Vasilevskiy. In eleven starts the 20-year-old Russian has posted a 6-4-1 record with a 2.35 GAA and .918 save percentage, a vast improvement over two goaltenders not on the roster.
Make no mistake about who has the top job. Bishop will be the starting goaltender when the playoffs begin. But these last eleven games give an opportunity for head coach Jon Cooper to use Vasilevskiy a little more and rest his workhorse. Bishop will certainly get most of the games toward the end but I expect Vasilevskiy to see a few starts with Tampa Bay having seven games in eleven nights beginning Friday.
Painful Memories
No team wants to lose a playoff series but being swept in the opening round, injured goaltender or not, is embarrassing. Tampa Bay has had a little extra for Montreal this year, going 4-0 and outscoring the Canadiens 16-5 in the process. Though regular season wins don’t make up for a playoff series it does show the Tampa Bay Lightning remember what happened to them last year.
When the Stanley Cup playoffs begin expect a very motivated team to draw on last years experience. With Bishop healthy, Stamkos and company providing one of the best 5-on-5 offenses in the NHL and a deeper defense after the trade for Braydon Coburn, an improved power play be the only thing standing between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Lord Stanley.
Next: NHL GM's Changing The Game
More from Puck Prose
- Detroit Red Wings 2023 Rookie Camp Has Plenty of Ups and Downs
- This Columbus Blue Jackets rookie doesn’t want to be forgotten
- 2 trades the Boston Bruins must make to secure the Stanley Cup
- 3 reasons the Avalanche won’t win the Stanley Cup in 2024
- This is a big year for Alex Turcotte and the Los Angeles Kings