Sunday's 2-1 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights did not hide the fact that the Tampa Bay Lightning are still struggling and not where they want to be. Struggles early in the season have fans wondering where the Lightning team is.
Team and individual struggles early
The team as a whole has not played to its full potential. After last nights win, they are 3-4-2 for eight points and are currently 26th in the league. They have a 2-3 home record but are 1-1-2 on the road and have been outscored 28-24. Tampa Bay sits seventh in the Atlantic Division.
Individually, the offense has been lackluster so far. forward Brandon Hagel scored his first goal against Vegas and now has five points on one goal and four assists for five points in nine games. One of the NHL's elite stars, Nikita Kucherov, is a -9 and goaltender Andrei Vasilevksiy is 1-3-2 with a goals against average of 3.00 and a save percentage of .892. He has allowed 18 goals on 207 shots. Not ideal.
The defense has been average to date
One of the struggles has been the play of the team;s defense. The defense has allowed 30.2 shots against per game, one of the worst in the league. They have allowed 22 goals in seven games and that is the worst in the Eastern Conference. The Lightning defense has been tighter than this in the past and seems to be struggling by leaving opposing players open and leaving rebounds.
The team has not had a major roster turnover and seemingly has the same roster as last season when they were better defensively as a group. It is up to interpretation as to why the team is struggling defensively but it has to be worked out in-house as no move will dramatically change this around.
Head coach Jon Cooper gets the best out of his players and Tampa Bay is always one of teh top teams in teh league. This situation will resolve itself in due time but Tampa Bay is digging itself a hole at the moment. Maybe last night's win will turn things around. Allowing one goal to an elite team could instill confidence in this group to turn things around.