Tampa Bay Lightning: Recent Success Shows The Bolts Are Back

Missed Opportunities

My third point when I last looked at the Lightning was missed opportunities on the power play. Here’s how they’ve done in that area recently.

Overall, the Lightning were 6 for 18 on the man advantage, which puts them at a success rate of 33.3%. However, on the road (the last four games of the seven-game win streak) they went two for nine and zero for four in the last three. Meanwhile, in the three home games over this win streak, the Lightning were four for six. Initial thoughts tell me that they need to improve upon their power play on the road.

However, it also shows that they’ve gotten past their over-reliance on the man advantage. Again, to reflect on my previous article, the Lightning lost seven of the nine games that they failed to record a power play goal. On this seven-game win streak alone, they won four games despite coming up empty-handed on the power play.

However, I also looked at the timeliness of their power play goals, and the timeliness of their missed opportunities. Here’s what I said in a previous article about the timeliness of the Lightning’s special teams.

"“Ultimately, 40.7%, or 11, of the Lightning’s power-play goals extended an already established lead. Of Tampa’s 63 failed power-play attempts, 90.5%, or 57 of them, came in a close game. What that means is that 57 times, Tampa had a crucial power play to either extend a lead in a tight game or tie it up, but failed. Timeliness of each goal truly matters, and the Lightning have failed thus far to take advantage of those crucial power play opportunities.”"

Of Tampa’s six power play goals, three of them extended an already established a two-goal lead, one extended a one-goal lead, and two gave them a lead in a tied game. As for missed opportunities, they had 12 failed power play chances.

Of those fails, five of them came when the game was tied, with one opportunity giving up a short-handed goal. Three other fails came when they were up by one, two fails came when the Lightning were up by two or more goals, and finally, two fails came while down by two or more goals, while also allowing a shorthanded goal.

Now, obviously, the timeliness didn’t hurt them at all on this recent streak, however, it is still very much a concern. More often than not, the Lightning have been gifted power plays in key situations and fail to take advantage. Again, they aren’t leaning on the power play as heavily down this recent stretch as they did at the beginning of the season, but they need to fix this area of their game to sustain this win streak.