Tampa Bay Lightning: Could they be best regular season team of all-time?

The playoffs aren’t the only place history is made, it just might be the only place history matters. Stanley Cup or not, the Tampa Bay Lightning are in the running to break a few NHL regular season records.

Take a look at the NHL standings and you’ll realize that the Tampa Bay Lightning are playing in a league all their own. Entering March 5, they’ve already broken 100 points. They’re already running away with the President’s Trophy with a month left in the season. It’s the Lightning’s league and everyone else is just playing in it.

The Lightning will enter the playoffs as the undisputed number one seed and Stanley Cup favorites. But as everyone knows, anything can happen in the playoffs. The President’s Trophy winner hasn’t won the Stanley Cup since the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season. They’ve been nothing short of dominant the entire 2018-2019 season, so even if they don’t win it all, is there a chance they go down as the NHL’s greatest regular season team of all time?

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To answer that question, let’s look at two statistics – the record for wins in the regular season by an NHL team and most points earned in the standings by an NHL team. The regular season wins record belongs to the 1995-1996 Detroit Red Wings, with 62 wins. Meanwhile, the NHL record for most points earned by a team is 132 points and that record belongs to the historically great 1976-1977 Montreal Canadiens.

First, let’s take a look at the regular season wins record. When the record was set in 1995-1996, NHL teams played the same amount of regular season games as the current schedule at 82 games. With the Lightning currently sitting 50 wins, they would have to win 12 of their remaining 16 to tie the Red Wings record and 13 to break it themselves.

This might sound like a daunting task and there are several factors that seem to be working against Tampa and their remaining schedule. Only seven of their remaining games are at home, with the season ending with a four game road trip. In addition, 12 of the last 16 games are against teams currently in a playoff position as well. And what if head coach Jon Cooper decided to rest his starters before the playoffs begin?

Those are all reasons for doubt, but the Lightning are getting hot at the right time, going 9-0-1 in their last 10. Breaking the Red Wings recorded may not be a given, but it sure is within reach.

Then there’s the record for most overall points in a season. The Lightning enter March 5 with 104 points, 28 shy out of Montreal’s record. With only 16 games remaining, losing any more than two games in regulation would end the Lightning’s hopes of even tying the historic Canadiens point total, but Tampa Bay does have two things working in their favor that Montreal didn’t over 30 years ago.

When the Canadiens set the regular season point record, there were only 80 games in an NHL season, and they accomplished the feat with a record of 60-8-12. Thus, Tampa has two extra games and a possible four extra points to grab.

Also, the Lightning enjoy the advantage of overtime games potentially going into a shootout. Games back in the 1970s could end in ties where the winner with both teams leaving with one point. Say what you want about the shootout, but they give Tampa an extra chance to earn win and the extra point that comes with it. The Lightning are tied with most shootout wins in the league at six, and only one loss. When you have Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov in your lineup, could you expect any less?

So yes, Tampa has a chance to break these records and earn the title as “best regular season team of all time” no matter what happens in the playoffs. But it’s too close to call to say that’s definite. Remember, thee records were set when the league was a different place, with fewer teams than the 31 team current total and less parity and competitive measures in place such as the salary cap.

Whether Tampa breaks the win and points record or not, we all know that isn’t their goal. As long as they lift the cup at the end of the season, the last thing on their mind if how much they missed these records by.

Also worth noting – the Red Wings team in 1995-1996 and clinched the wins record did not win the Stanley Cup that year. They fell in the conference final to the eventual cup winner the Colorado Avalanche. The 1976-1977 Canadiens did, however, win the Stanley Cup that season.

Regardless of how the Lightning finish this season, they’ll likely go down as the best regular season team of the salary cap era. Their season should be appreciated because it’s hard to be dominant for an 82 game stretch. Even if the Lightning don’t win the Stanley Cup, their season should be seen as nothing short of a special one.